Unbroken
by SilverShadowFin
Summary: Beacon Academy as well as the city of Vale have suffered a devastating attack. The locals aren't the only ones caught in the aftermath. An expelled Atlas Academy second-year is stuck in Vale, doing the only thing a hunter in training can: fighting back the darkness that threatens to overrun the city. Or is that just an excuse to escape the past?
1. The black and white trailer

"Get to cover!", the teenager in black jeans, black polo shirt and a ski mask shouted.

The teenager's brunette teammate, already in cover, simply rolled her eyes.

"Thanks, Yuki. Never would've thought of that.", the young woman shouted back.

The snapping and pinging sounds of bullets hitting the walls and ground were echoing around the alley, overpowering the thunder and rain. Here and there, sparks flew as the bullets hit trash cans.

"Never use my name! Do you realize what they'll do to me if they hear that?!", the taller teenager shouted.

"It's not like there's humans around! I don't even get why these trash cans are still after us!", the brown-haired teenager wondered out loud.

"Could have something to with, oh, maybe, pissing off one of the most powerful men in the city!", the masked shooter replied, reloading the pistol.

"Smart-ass! How can they get away with a shootout out in the open?!", the faunus questioned, hitting a puddle of rain water on the alley with her weapon.

The shock from the brunette's whip dissipated in the shallow water, but the old, refurbished Atlesian Knights stopped regardless. Yuki popped from cover and fired a few rounds. One of the security bots chasing the duo fell, another seemed to lose control of its weapon arm.

"I have a few ideas why! I'll be sure to share my insights if we live!", the gunslinger replied.

Having created an opening, the two dark figures dashed forward. At the end of the alley, the young faunus hopped to the side and electrified a stream of rainwater running from the alley. The last two AK's stopped taking pot shots at Yuki, their sensors clearly malfunctioning. The masked teenager spun around and fired three rounds in rapid succession. The head of their second-to-last adversary went dark. In a blink of an eye, Yuki had the last robot lined up. The young rebel pulled the trigger. Just as a round fired, Yuki heard a yell.

"Behind us!"

The redhead turned around, back against a wall. The flickering street lights illuminated a group of four well-dressed figures.

"Love the show, kids, but this farce is done! Mr. Schnee would like a word.", one said, a hint of amusement in his voice.

The faunus laughed. Yuki couldn't help getting annoyed.

"Mr. Schnee… The man really has the perfect name. He is a Jacque-ass.", the faunus joked, without a hint of humor in her voice.

_We're dead. She's going to get us shot._

The brunette was, despite the taunts, slowly lowering her weapon. Yuki followed suit. It felt odd that the faunus seemed to be purposefully placing her weapon very far to her right. Suddenly, the masked teenager realized what was going on. Unfortunately, so did the goons.

"Stop! Freez-"

The leader of the group didn't get to finish the command. The end of the whip was touching the water pouring from the alley on to the street. Seeing their leader drop to the ground, the three others charged forward. The brunette quickly flicked her weapon, swiping past the nearest suited figure. It seemed like she'd missed, until the weapon hit a street light. The light flashed, popped loudly, and went out. The same happened to a number of lights along the street.

Yuki, realizing that too much was happening too quickly, stopped and focused for a fraction of a second. The falling drops of rain slowed down, forming a trail of light around them. Sounds became low and distorted. A dark blue shadow, an echo of the suited figure in front of Yuki, appeared in front of the real, slowly advancing opponent. Where the actual black-haired woman was only reaching for her holster, the shadowy figure was holding a weapon. The masked teenager made a split-second decision and pulled out a telescoping staff. The weapon flew open to its full length as the teenager's left hand flung it toward the woman. With everything still moving in slow motion, the gunslinger checked on the faunus. The young brunette was in the process of stunning the goon in front of her. The third one of Schnee's hired muscle, a red-haired woman in a black suit, was advancing on the faunus.

The flow of time went back to normal. The goon in front of Yuki was only drawing her weapon now. Yuki's strike connected before the woman had a chance to aim. The wrist of her right hand couldn't take the impact. Reflexively, her hand pulled back and let go of the pistol. Coming around for another strike, the masked teenager's staff hit the left side of the woman's head. The impact made her slump to the ground, more or less unconscious. The strike might have left her with permanent injury. It might have killed her. The masked teenager didn't particularly care.

_She made her choice when she agreed to work for the S.D.C._

For a fraction of a second, something in the back of the masked teenager's mind was screaming.

_Shoot her! She's S.D.C.! Just kill her!_

The teenager stepped over the woman, advancing on the last opponent.

_Don't. You're better than they are. Only cowards kill in cold blood. Only __**they**__ would stoop so low._

The teenager couldn't help smirking at the irony of a human thinking like that while fighting humans.

"What the hell are you, kid? Deranged?"

The red-haired henchwoman was aiming her pistol at Yuki. The masked teenager, without wasting a second, swung the staff at her. Focused on avoiding the staff, she didn't notice the teenager pull the pistol and fire two rounds. She screamed in surprise and pain as the bullets slammed into her legs. Another powerful staff strike broke her wrist, and her weapon fell to the ground. Yuki stepped forward and kicked the pistol away.

"Deranged? Yeah, you'd probably see it that way. You're all the same. If it's the other side, they're evil. If it's 'your own people' opposing your tyranny, they're insane. And if you actually support the 'enemy'… You're a traitor to both."

The redhead scoffed.

"Support the enemy… You'd get along great with the Winterburn kid. Still supports the faunus after what the Fang did. You're just deranged."

The masked teenager tried to hide the shock. The S.D.C. had somehow made the connection. Was Yuki even the only one they'd ID'd?

"Yeah, I probably would.", the teenager replied, trying to stay calm.

Yuki started walking away from the beaten security team. The brunette followed the masked teenager to another alley across the street

The faunus looked at the masked teenager, annoyed.

"Was that smart?"

"What?", the masked teenager asked innocently.

The faunus rolled her eyes.

"Idiot. You said it yourself. If they figured out you're here, you're dead."

"How would they? There guys talked about me, and still no idea who just kicked their asses. Also, which 'they' are you talking about?", the masked teenager smirked.

The brunette was getting aggravated. She took off the scarf covering her face.

"Take your fucking pick. The Fang is everywhere down here, hitting the mines. The S.D.C. security is now looking for us. Also, genius, your hair dye is fading."

The masked teenager took off the cheap goggles and ski mask that had served as a disguise. Using the goggles as a mirror, the teenager saw silvery-white roots showing under the dyed black hair.

"Shit."

"Yeah."


	2. A New Beginning

"Professor! Two boarbatusks, six ursas, and a beringel!", the figure in a white bomber jacket shouted.

"How far?"

Professor Goodwitch didn't even turn around. Her attention was on the damaged aqueduct. The stones she was lifting into place were the last pieces of the inner aqueduct ring surrounding the academy courtyard. The grimm were shambling past the outer ring. The figure in the white jacket pulled out the pistol holstered at their hip.

"Outer aqueduct.", the sentry said, quickly racking the slide of the long pistol, getting ready to stop the approaching group of grimm.

"I'll have to take them."

"Careful. If I get distracted and drop this, it's on our heads.", the blonde woman warned.

"Ma'am… No disrespect intended, but I'll dodge that without much trouble."

The professor laughed wryly.

"I hope so. Remember, a beringel's weakest point is its head. A boarbatusk needs to be hit in the neck. Ursa's-"

The end of her sentence was covered by the ground-shaking boom of a projectile leaving the handgun. It was quickly followed by another, then another.

"I remember my classes, ma'am. In other news, that stopped the beringel.", the red-headed student replied hastily.

Another two shots rang out. After a short break, a further three.

"Professor! They're charging us!"

"What did I just say about focusing on this?!", the teacher roared.

The sentinel fired another couple of shots from nearly point black range. A couple of grimm fell, but the rest kept coming. The sentry holstered the pistol and pulled out a collapsed staff from a belt-mounted sheath. The staff just barely deflected a swipe from an Ursa. Instead of taking the sentry's head off, the paw merely smashed the sunglasses on the student's face. Clearly annoyed, the student swiped at the monster. The weapon extended to its full length, longer than the redhead. It hit the boarbatusk on the side of the head. The monster staggered backwards.

"My freaking glasses! That ursa is going down, and then these a-"

A mechanical whine filled the air. After a second, a Gatling gun roared, spitting projectiles into the group of grimm. The burst effortlessly ripped through one of the boarbatusks, and one of the four ursas still standing. The sentry took the opportunity, pulled out the pistol, and fired two rounds into the side of the offending ursa's head. On the courtyard, the Gatling gun wielder "packed" her weapon back into a purse, her teammates now charging the remaining two ursas. The orange-haired young man pulled out two blades and started slashing on one the ursas relentlessly. The other charged forward and swung a rope dart at the last ursa. The grimm stopped as the blade hit it. At a better angle, with more speed, the single hit might well have taken the ursa down. As things stood, the faunus stopped, switched tactics and... took a picture of the redhead. A glowing, almost ghostly copy of the large pistol appeared in front of faunus. The redhead watched a copy of the very familiar pistol sink four rounds into the last ursa.

Coco Adel was loading a new ammo belt to her Gatling-gun-turned-chic-purse. Her mocha jacket was the same as always. The black scarf she'd been wearing during the tournament had been replaced with a light charcoal one, and the beret of the day was dark brown. Fox Alistair was cleaning his tonfa blades before sheathing them. The sheaths were the same shade of dark brown as the equipment pouches Fox always wore. Velvet Scarlatina put her bizarre weapons-replicating camera back in her bag and secured the rope and blade on her belt. The redhead didn't think the faunus had had that at the stadium. This was team Coffee. Or rather, team C.F.V.

"You alright, mate?", Alistair asked.

The redhead collapsed the staff and put it back in its pouch before holstering the pistol.

"I'm alright. Thanks for the assist."

The redhead turned to professor Goodwitch. The blonde still had her riding crop raised.

"Professor, I assume you're okay?"

"I'm almost done, and yes, I'm fine. Thank you, Yuki."

"Yuki, huh? Not sure I've seen you around before. What's your story?"

Coco Adel had caught up with the epicenter of the action and was now flashing a smile at the redhead.

"Coco!", Velvet Scarlatina exclaimed.

The faunus turned to Yuki with an apologetic look.

"You don't have to answer that. Coco can be a little… energetic at times."

Yuki sighed, then laughed wryly.

"I think we all have our war stories by now. Because this…" Yuki gestured at the nearly-demolished outer aqueduct. "This is war."

Everyone either sighed or let out a dry laugh.

"Yeah… Torchwick decided to give us our final test a little early.", Scarlatina commented solemnly.

"Grading was a little bit too bloody harsh.", Alistair added sardonically.

Professor Goodwitch lowered the riding crop.

"We're done here. Go ahead and get dinner. I'll clean up.

Yuki cast a glance at the airship port. Professor Port and a group of student volunteers were returning from Vale. Some of them could probably help professor Goodwitch. Staying out without guards seemed like a terrible idea, regardless of how capable Goodwitch was. Yuki and team C.F.V. bid their goodbyes to the professor and started walking back to the main building.

"So, you asked what my story is. Yuki Winterburn, age nineteen. From Atlas. Yeah, you probably haven't seen me around much. I came here to watch the festival. Only…"

The trio hummed solemnly.

"Yeah. This all happened."

Coco Adel looked at Yuki curiously.

"Watch the festival? You fight like a student at least.", she observed.

"I… may have gotten into a minor disagreement with Jacques Schnee's bodyguards a while back when they were pushing around a faunus. I might have lost my temper and gone a tiny bit overboard with my, well, response. I actually think if Ironwood hadn't seen the whole thing, I'd have been deported from the city, not just expelled from the Academy."

"Wow.", Adel gasped.

Yuki could see Adel and Scarlatina give each other a look.

"Yeah. The goons all got out of the hospital in a couple of weeks. The faunus was still in the hospital when I left."

"How do you know how the faunus is doing? I have a feeling they didn't give you visitation rights. Schnee would've made sure of that.", the rabbit faunus wondered.

Yuki laughed.

"Wow. Not much love for the S.D.C. around here."

"Jacques Schnee's daughter is… or was out classmate.", Fox commented. "She probably hates old man Schnee more than the rest of us combined. We heard all the stories."

A knot formed in Yuki's stomach.

"Was?"

Fox went quiet for a second, cursing under his breath.

"She's fine. Or… well, alive, at least. I heard a rumor her dad forced her to go back to Atlas. Sorry for making it sound like she didn't make it. I just meant, with the school like this she really isn't our classmate-"

Scarlatina giggled.

"Fox, rambling."

Fox looked away, embarrassed.

"Sorry."

"Anyway, the Atlesians pretty much headed home after the tournament was… interrupted. Why did you stay in Vale?", the young man continued.

"I just told you I made enemies with an Atlesian big shot and got expelled from combat school. They banned me from the Academy grounds so I can't even see my friends. I figured I'd have something to do if I stayed in Vale and helped people. Bumped into Professor Goodwitch a couple of weeks later, and she offered lunch if I helped her. I've been doing odd jobs for her and other Beacon staff since then."

Velvet Scarlatina looker at Yuki hesitantly.

"Do they know what… happened in Atlas? The staff here?"

Yuki smiled warmly at the faunus.

"They do. Hell, general Ironwood and I fought side by side for a moment… on that day. He said he'd been working to get me back. His hand was forced by Schnee, apparently. It kind of sounded like Ozpin had been furious that he'd caved and expelled me. Your people, Beacon staff, have mostly been sympathetic to me."

"That… Sounds like professor Ozpin. It's not like there isn't discrimination going on at Beacon, but if the staff finds out… they won't tolerate it for a second.", Velvet commented, smiling.

"Hell, one member of team R.W.B.Y. was a White Fang… freedom fighter before being accepted to Beacon.", Coco mentioned.

Yuki's eyes went wide.

"Freedom fighter, huh? How radical are we talking here, exactly?"

"I… heard a rumor she worked with Adam Taurus.", the team leader said, sighing. "Team R.W.B.Y. got hit hard. They didn't just take it personally. It was personal. Blake, the faunus… activist, was almost killed by Taurus. Someone else from their team lost an arm saving Blake."

"Holy shit!", Yuki exclaimed.

"Fucking tell me about it. Weiss Schnee was a member of team R.W.B.Y. too. It's like this whole attack was as much against that one team as it was against the school. It's bizarre.", Coco added.

"Yeah… I hung out with Ruby sometimes, the leader of team R.W.B.Y. After the attack, they all left. Can't really blame them. Yang lost her freaking arm. Ruby slipped into some kind of a coma. She was up there when Pyrrha was killed, for fuck's sake!", Velvet exclaimed.

Hearing of the losses made it sink in again. Yuki had been there, seen a member of team Ruby shoot an unarmed competitor in the leg, and watched as team Juniper's contestant tore an android to pieces in a horrific accident. The girl, the legend, Pyrrha Nikos, was now dead. Beacon had lost good people. Vale had lost innocent bystanders. Hearing it time and time again over the past few weeks didn't make it much easier to hear.

"Feel like having dinner with us?", Coco asked.

The question pulled the redhead up from the dark thoughts.

"I don't want to intrude on your team, miss Adel-"

"Coco. Never miss Adel. Please.", the young woman commented sternly, before softening up. "And we want to hear more about you."

"Sure… Coco. I've been standing outside in the cold for hours, watching Goodwitch's back. Again, thanks for the backup.", Yuki replied, offering a handshake.

"Come on. You took the big ones. You'd have taken the ursas in a few seconds.", Fox commented. "Fox Alistair. Nice meeting you."

"And they'd have piled on Goodwitch in half that. That would've gotten messy, and I kinda like having her trust me. It's… useful.", Yuki replied, shaking the young man's hand.

"You're talking like some kind of an outlaw.", Velvet commented.

Yuki gave her a pointed look. The faunus' ears drooped, and she blushed slightly.

"Okay, point."

Yuki looked around, feeling unsure.

"I don't usually flip out and beat people up. I hope you can trust me to be… sane."

Coco gave the redhead an incredulous look.

"Another member of team R.W.B.Y. Another _friend_. Yang Xiao Long. The one whose arm was chopped off. She saved her teammate with an enraged charge. Can't stand injustice and takes it down by any means necessary. Sound familiar?", Coco pointed out.

"Also, we just told you we're friends with a pro-faunus terrorist. You're not even the most controversial.", Velvet giggled.

A chill ran down Yuki's spine. Being more or less compared to a terrorist was a bit hard to hear. Aside from that, team C.F.V. was welcoming a complete stranger with open arms.

_They sure are friendly… I guess we all feel lonely in the middle of this._

"Shit… Things have sure gotten grim around here.", the redhead observed.

Team C.F.V. shot Yuki a disapproving glare. The Atlesian grinned.

The academy was mostly in one piece. Mostly. Coming into landing at the airship port, the building complex looked flawless apart from the aqueducts. Repairing the academy's facade had taken priority. Looking from the opposite side, the true scope of the attack would've become clear quickly. Walls had collapsed. On the walls still standing, windows were shattered. As if on Salem's command, rain and storms had beaten the exposed classroom over the days and weeks following the attack. Now the exposed rooms were at risk of being entirely frozen by the colder and colder weather.

"The campus looks… sad. Depressing.", Velvet commented quietly.

"Like a war zone.", Coco added.

"Can you imagine if the grimm had hit the dorms?", Fox pondered.

"People would be homeless.", Yuki said bluntly. "I've helped the professor and others rebuild people's homes all over the city. If Beacon hadn't taken in some students' families..."

"I wonder how many students are still here. Yatsu's family probably still thinks Atlas attacked Vale, that this place is a war zone. We don't even know if he made it home safe. I heard Blake disappeared too. Team Juniper, what's left of them, left after Pyrrha's funeral. Team Cardinal disappeared during the attack. They were...", Velvet pondered.

"Arseholes. But I hope they didn't get themselves killed. Would've been a waste to teach them a lesson for them to just drop dead.", Fox cut in.

_Sometimes the only way to unite people is a common threat. If you can call __wishing someone didn't get killed,__ 'united'._

The dining hall was lively, but by no means full.

"I still can't get used to this.", Coco commented.

"Hmm?", Yuki inquired.

"The atmosphere here. Almost no uniforms. So many students and staff eating in their combat gear.", she explained.

"Most of the staff is out there, either rebuilding or guarding all the time. Hell, I think most students are too.", Fox offered.

"This is a base, not a school now.", Velvet lamented.

"These schools are always bases. Atlas makes it a lot more obvious than you guys, but… we're all here learning how to fight so we can protect people.", Yuki commented.

Fox laughed wryly.

"Doesn't really matter if it's Ironwood or Ozpin, they'd be proud of that spirit."

"Yeah… Honestly, I've seen a lot of people admit that helping people is a nice bonus, but the real reason they're doing this is something else. Changing the world isn't exactly something most of us imagine doing.", Coco added.

"Call me a dreamer, then.", Yuki muttered.

Velvet sighed, her eyes cast down.

"If this is a dream, I want to wake up. We were supposed to fend off occasional attacks, not defend a city from an invasion."

"Hell, I thought we were supposed to have a childhood. You know, be teenagers. We weren't supposed to worry about this shit until years from now.", Fox commented.

"Yeah, I don't think anyone saw this coming when we decided to enroll.", Yuki added.

Velvet carefully glanced at Yuki, then at Fox. Coco's eyes were shifting between her food and Fox's plate. The orange-haired fighter took off his tinted glasses and held them in his hand as he turned to Yuki. The redhead looked at the brawler and froze. Milky white eyes were facing the Atlesian.

"Sh- Sorry. Alistair, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. I'm an idiot.", Yuki stammered.

Fox burst out laughing.

"Got me there, mate. I _really_ didn't _see_ myself doing this on year two.", he howled.

Yuki decided it was safe to breathe again, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Seriously, don't tiptoe around my vision and all that. I can take care of myself. If people treat me like I need protecting from the big, bad world, I'll never get anywhere in life. I don't want to speak ill of the dead, and I love this team but… I still wonder why Ozpin put us together. Most teams balance kick-ass fighters and people with learning potential. And here we are. A faunus who's been abused her whole life just because of who she is, a blind guy, a-"

Coco cut her off, laughing quietly.

"Fox, rambling."

Yuki chuckled.

"You're probably right. I looked up the tournament teams. You're one of the best teams at Beacon. Easily the best second-years. Professor Ozpin focused too many good hunters in one team. You're overpowered,", the redhead dead-panned.

"That is so not what I meant, and you know it.", Fox replied, shaking his head.

In less than fifteen minutes, everyone's plates were empty. Velvet put her scroll back in its pouch.

"Do we always eat this quickly?"

Yuki hummed.

"From what I've seen, probably. Everyone here eats quickly. Wasn't really used to seeing it when I got here. At Atlas, meals were one of the few times we could relax for a minute and catch our breath."

"Makes sense. You're trained like soldiers. We're trained like hunters. Until this whole insanity happened, school life was fairly calm. Not relaxed, but calm.", Coco explained. "More opportunities to kick back. But the cafeteria? This place was always so full you wanted to eat and get out as soon as you could. Probably the _least_ relaxing place on campus.", Fox explained.

"Makes you appreciate the goofy, annoying stuff. And the small things. Can't exactly go take a stroll around the grounds after lunch to relax now.", Velvet lamented.

"Not to relax, no.", Yuki agreed.

Even if the grimm weren't a constant threat, the grounds were a mess of damaged architecture and unkept, grimm-ravaged greenery.

The four young huntsmen and huntresses walked out of the cafeteria.

"Soo… Any plans, anyone?", Velvet asked.

"I think I'll bribe you into giving me a massage today. Those stones were probably heavier than my weapon. I mean, does Oobleck think I'm Yatsu or something?", Coco scoffed.

Yuki raised an eyebrow.

"Welcome to 'everyday life with team Coffee'. I'm your host, Fox Alistair, and on today's episode-", Fox narrated.

"Oh, piss off.", Coco laughed, poking Fox's ribs.

"Grimm! We have grimm at the port! My team is down there. Please, anyone! The teachers don't even know they're out there!"

A student, likely a first-year, was calling for help in the cafeteria. He was wearing a wrinkled uniform, and his black hair was a mess. A cast covered his right arm. It looked like he had a call going on his scroll. With no time to discuss options, Coco took action.

"I can cover them from the skywalk between A and C buildings!", she shouted, running back toward the cafeteria, and the stairs to the fourth floor.

Velvet hesitated for a split-second

"It's already dark out. She'll need a spotter with perfect night vision.", Fox said, pointedly nodding at Velvet.

The faunus took off after her team leader.

"Dammit, normally Yatsu and I would get close with those two cover-"

Yuki didn't need another hint. The redhead was already rushing to the door. Fox followed.


	3. The New Normal

Fox had his scroll out, a call open to Velvet.

"In position, fifteen seconds.", came Velvet's voice.

"More than a minute for us. Couple hundred meters. How are the students?", Fox asked.

"Can't see them yet.", Velvet replied.

Team C.F.V. had been lucky they'd gone to the cafeteria without dropping off their weapons. Most would frown upon someone walking into a school cafeteria with a Gatling gun, or massive tonfa blades, but desperate times accommodated desperate measures.

"They need help, now! Easily ten grimm!", came Velvet's voice over the phone. "Watch yourselves! Coco's firing!"

The roar of the machine gun filled the air. Hundreds of rounds whizzed past Fox and Yuki and slammed into the grimm just outside the outer aqueduct. The firing stopped and Coco's voice could be heard.

"I can't shoot closer. I'll risk hitting them."

"A boarbatusk is charging them. Can you do anything?", Velvet asked, her voice surprisingly calm and contemplative.

"Too far.", was Fox's simple reply.

Yuki stopped. Fox glanced over his shoulder, looking at the redhead.

"Go. I'll follow.", Yuki said, pulling out the pistol.

The scope didn't offer much magnification, but what little it had was just enough for the weapon's range. The silhouettes of the three students were easily visible. Equally obvious was the boarbatusk arching its back, getting ready to charge. The students were busy fighting off the four ursas that had already surrounded them.

Yuki took aim and exhaled. One. Two. Heartbeats became easy to count with a little concentration. Three. Through the scope, the redhead watched the world slow down. Voices became slow and deep. The time between heartbeats seemed to stretch on and on. Yuki could see a ghostly figure of the boarbatusk, leaping towards the students. The actual grimm was arching its back, ready to attack. Yuki moved the sights to predict the ghostly figure's movements.

After the quick correction, the cross-hairs were on the figure's forehead. A smooth trigger pull timed just between heartbeats. A shot echoed in the evening air, just as the boarbatusk actually charged forward. The projectile met the beast's head in a fraction of a second. In less than two seconds, another. Lining up for a third, the young gunslinger saw the boarbatusk fall. Then, a mechanical roar accompanied a storm of bullets. A rain of projectiles kicked up dust and dirt just outside the port. Looking through the telescopic sight, the sharpshooter could see a group of fallen grimm. The pack outside the port were running back to the forest, defeated for now.

_Scarlatina saw them from all the way up there? Her vision is amazing._

"Hell of a shot, Winterburn!"

Ahead, Fox had apparently gotten within range of the remaining three ursai. He was taking pot shots at the monsters to slow them down, still sprinting to the students. Yuki smirked and raised the pistol.

_I think I can get one..._

The hunter raised the pistol, putting the cross-hairs on one of the grimm. Another high-velocity round passed through the recoil compensator. The blast shook the ground all around the Atlesian. Another Ursa was down.

"Bloody show-off!"

Yuki smirked.

_Didn't even need the semblance._

"Is everyone okay? Did anyone get hurt?"

Professor Oobleck was running to the students. He didn't have his hat, or his coat. His popped shirt collar fluttered in the wind. The history teacher was holding his signature thermos. Yuki shrugged and holstered the pistol, not knowing how the first-years had fared. As Oobleck rushed past, Yuki started sprinting to Fox.

"Herr Fox! Is everyone okay?!"

"Just a sprained ankle and some bruises, professor. We got here in time… this time."

"Gott sie Dank. It could have been so much worse. And it's doctor, actually."

"Tell me about it… doctor.", Fox replied, shaking his head.

Yuki got to Fox and noticed his phone was still out.

"Still talking to Miss Scarlatina?"

"I told you, Yuki. Call me Velvet!"

Sighing, the redhead continued.

"Are we safe here? Any more grimm around?"

"You're good, for now. We can stay here until you get inside, just in case."

Doctor Oobleck took charge of the situation.

"Please keep looking, miss Scarlatina. This little skirmish may attract more grimm, and we have injured students here."

"I'll stop anything that gets near the port. You can count on us, sir.", came Coco's voice.

"Thank you both. Mr. Fox, can you help him inside?", Oobleck asked, motioning to the injured student.

Fox nodded.

"And you, miss… or is it mister…? No matter. Please stay close and cover us. You fight like a professional."

"Thank you, pr- doctor. Hey, Fox, what's Velvet's scroll address?"

"It's vee-scarlatina at beacon dot acad", came Velvet's voice. "Fox, Coco will call you. Yuki, you call me. If one of you needs to split off and fight, we can still talk to all of you."

"...dot-acad. Got it. Calling now.", Yuki commented, tapping away on a smartwatch.

Five minutes later, Yuki tapped the smartwatch to hang up the call. Coco and Velvet were on their way downstairs. One of the school nurses, as well as the fourth member of the team, had come to meet the students at the door. Velvet had seen a couple of grimm, Coco had spun up her weapon once, but hadn't fired. The academy courtyard was safe.

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me. When I got there, team C.F.V.Y. and their new friend had already stopped the grimm.", Oobleck replied, gesturing towards the second-years.

Despite the leg injury, the blue-haired boy turned to Yuki and Fox smiling.

"Thanks, guys. You saved us. You saved me."

"Thank Yuki here. I was too far away to do anything.", Fox deflected.

"That was Coco Adel covering us from somewhere up there, right?", a blonde girl asked, motioning up toward the sky-walk. "I heard Daichi-san left. That sucks, but glad to see the legends are still kicking ass. Who's the new girl?"

"Didn't Oobleck say he's a guy?", the blue-haired student asked, confused.

A familiar laugh flowed from behind the group. Yuki turned around to see Velvet and Coco.

"Let me guess, you run into this fairly often?", Coco asked, smirking at Yuki.

Yuki responded with an eye roll and a chuckle.

"M-hmm. I'm a little surprised I didn't hear you debate this over dinner."

"Come on. We have manners.", Velvet laughed.

Yuki turned to the first-years.

"Oobleck wouldn't know either way. I'm not a Beacon student, just an Atlesian tourist who got caught in the middle of this."

The younger students now looked royally confused.

"A tourist? Yeah, right."

"You fight like a pro."

"I was an Atlas Academy second-year before… things happened. Thanks for the compliment, though.", Yuki replied.

"I was thinking we could spar a little tonight, but after all the real fighting...", Coco commented, walking through the dormitory corridors.

"Yeah. Maybe a longer training session after breakfast tomorrow?", Velvet suggested.

"I'm game.", Fox agreed.

A moment of amused silence followed.

"The first one to make a hunting pun does my laundry for a month.", Fox groaned.

Coco and Velvet giggled.

"For fox's sake, people! Cut the guy some slack!", Yuki quipped.

Fox shot Yuki a stern look. The other two laughed.

"At least try to come up with something original, Winterburn."

"It was new to me. And hey, they laughed.", the redhead shrugged.

"Git. Hey boss, should we make a dojo reservation?", Fox asked, sharing his head.

"Are the dojos really that busy anymore?", Velvet asked.

"Less students but more need for training than ever. Better safe than sorry. Who's going?", Coco asked.

"I could just go there before going to my room.", Yuki offered.

"How can your dorm room be anywhere near the dojos?", Fox asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It was really busy here when I came to Beacon. It's not really a dorm room. More an… office supply room with a bed in it.", the redhead explained.

Coco and Velvet looked at Yuki incredulously.

"For real?", Velvet asked.

"It was a disaster zone out there. The school was full of refugees. I was just glad to get one place to call… my bed. For the first week, I was going from house to house, crashing on people's couches in exchange for repair and guard jobs. From then on it was a few nights per couch."

"Wow.", Velvet gasped.

"Yeah. I was kind of starting to feel like a real hunter, living on bare essentials and fighting monsters every day.", Yuki commented, followed by a wry laugh.

"I'm a little surprised your parents or someone hasn't told you to come back.", Coco commented. "The only reason mine haven't gotten me to return home is they can't talk to me. I may have told my brother to remind them that Vale still doesn't have mail service, so getting any letters from home seems… implausible. The CCT probably won't get rebuilt that soon, either. The tower got obliterated.", the brunette smirked, browsing something on her scroll.

"Umm… It's not really my place to ask but… over-controlling parents?", Yuki carefully probed.

"Ever heard of the Adel fashion empire?"

Yuki's eyes widened in realization.

_That… should have been obvious._

"Yeah. I was supposed to be the next CEO. Mom's never approved of me becoming a huntress. Or helping people instead of amassing piles and piles of money. I think she's scared she'll lose me like we lost dad. Still… Not her call.", Coco spat. "I'm lucky a lot of our staff like me. I… Let's just say mom can't blackmail me by freezing my credit cards. I heard old man Schnee did that to Weiss at least once."

"Shit. I'm sorry to hear that. If I get too nosy, just tell me to shut up.", Yuki said. "A lot of people say I've got it bad with both my parents dead but that's not really it. It's not about having parents. It's about having good parents."

Coco sighed.

"Sorry for your loss. You're right, my dad was great. Mom… went into a downward spiral after his death.", the fashionista explained.

"I guess I'm lucky my parents are both good people.", Fox commented. "I could be doing… a lot worse."

"You're one of the fastest fighters I've seen. Would've sucked to have that potential wasted.", Yuki commented.

"Don't flatter me, Winterburn. I don't exactly take well to white lies.", Fox replied, his voice suddenly dark and vaguely threatening.

"I figured. Which is why I don't bullshit you. You should've seen yourself out there.", the Atlesian replied matter-of-factly.

Fox turned to Yuki, his face softening into a sly smirk.

"By the way, your jokes are about as bad as Xiao Long's."

"On a lighter note, want to watch a movie or something tonight?", Coco asked, seemingly out of nowhere.

A hint of stress in the team leader's voice betrayed her attempt to ease the tension between Yuki and Fox.

"Sounds good.", Velvet replied.

"Sure.", came the reply from Fox.

Velvet bumped Coco and cast a quick glance at Yuki.

"Hey, Winterburn, feel like joining us for a movie night?", the heiress asked, turning to Yuki.

It took the redhead a second or two to process the question. Team C.F.V. was inviting a stranger to their room a couple hours after their first meeting?

"Sure, why not?", Yuki replied, trying to play it cool. "I'll just go to my room to drop off my weapons and get some stuff."

Fox thought for a moment before speaking.

"Actually... If there's more grimm attacks, they'll probably call on us. I could use someone backing me up at close range. Can you keep your gear with you?"

Yuki looked at Fox surprised. Velvet stepped in to explain.

"I'm not exactly an effective short-range fighter. I made the rope dart from a random blade I found and some rope just two weeks ago. Also, if Coco gets jumped, she'll need someone to keep grimm off her back. In a nutshell, I can't really partner with Fox.", Velvet explained.

"Yatsu and I were the melee fighters. Coco's the gunner, Velvet the spotter. You probably saw it at the tournament. Yatsu could stop a rushing horde with a single attack. I'm fast, but there's a limit.", Fox added.

"As much candy and popcorn you can eat if you promise to keep Foxy safe?", Velvet offered.

Yuki laughed.

"Wow, life is that cheap these days? Sure, man. I've got your back if they need you.", the redhead said to Fox. "I'll still need to get some things… and drop off what little is left of my sunglasses. Goddamn ursa."

"They were BeamShield 3362's right?", Coco asked out of nowhere.

"Wow, you're good.", Yuki replied, surprised.

Coco lowered her glasses and gave Yuki her trademark pointed stare. The redhead got an exceptionally good look at the glasses.

"Those are 3362's, aren't they?", the redhead dead-panned.

"Not quite, my friend. These frames are Adel exclusive, but manufactured by the same company that owns and makes BeamShield. The lenses are exactly the same as the 3362's. I have three pairs with different lenses for different times of day. I also have a massive collection of spare lenses.", the fashionista boasted.

"This line of work really is a hazard to eyewear, eh?", the redhead quipped.

"I'm more interested in how you keep your white jacket clean.", Coco laughed.

Yuki only gave the fashionista a mysterious smile.

Coco was opening the door to team Coffee's dorm room. Velvet looked at Yuki, then tugged at Coco's sleeve.

"Guys… We've invited Yuki to watch a movie with us, train with us, even fight grimm with us. Are we the kinds of people who demand all that from our friends and then send them to sleep in a closet in the middle of the night?", Velvet asked.

"You… do have a point.", Fox commented.

Coco didn't even hesitate.

"Yatsu's bunk is obviously empty. You're free to use it. Just crash with us after the movie. Saves us having to hunt you down for training tomorrow.", the team leader offered.

"I don't want to intrude. I can handle things on my own. Also, it's not a closet.", Yuki replied.

"Of course. I'll let you in on a secret, though. Having a minigun-wielding bad-ass and a spotter with superhuman senses backing you up makes life easier. Emphasis on the 'life' part.", Fox commented sardonically.

"Close calls in your past?", Yuki asked.

"The hunter asks, having had their head nearly ripped off hours earlier.", Fox dead-panned. "Seriously, none of us were ready for this. We'd be idiots to think we were."

"Okay, point.", Yuki conceded. "I'll get my stuff. If it's a sleepover, I might as well pack my bag and bring everything to your room for tonight. And yes, I'll handle the dojo reservation while I'm out there.", the redhead continued.

"Fox, can you go to the cafeteria and get us some snacks?", Coco asked.

"Sure, boss."

"Can I ask you something?", Fox asked, walking a couple of steps ahead of Yuki.

"Yeah?"

"That shot… The one that took down the boarbatusk. It's wasn't 'difficult'. That grimm was moving. It was impossible."

"My bullets seemed to think otherwise.", Yuki joked.

"Git. You know what I mean. That wasn't just skill. Do Atlesians have guided bullets or something?", Fox laughed.

"Oh, totally. Ironwood is totally supplying me with classified, experimental military tech, and getting expelled was just a cover story to go test all this stuff.", the redhead dramatized, complete with an eye roll.

"Well, I don't know that's _not_ what happened...", Fox teased.

"Dude, check any local newscast from that day." The redhead's tone became somber. "My… my face is all over the media over there."

"Oh… Bollocks. You're… basically living in exile?", Fox gasped. "You didn't say anything about this earlier."

_Yeah, well, making a move against the Schnees guarantees __that people up there will hate you._

"It's not like it matters. People can think whatever they want. It's the arseholes that actually stop you on the street just to harass you I couldn't take."

"Did you… actually plan to go back at some point?", Fox asked quietly.

Yuki sighed.

"No. Not right away. A friend of a friend is a gunsmith in a small town a few hours from here. Perfect place to disappear for a while."

"But you didn't.", Fox pointed out.

"I was supposed to meet him after the festival, in Vale.", Yuki explained.

Fox looked at Yuki. The redhead's eyes were cast down. The question Fox was refusing to voice was obvious.

"I don't know if he made it back home. I don't know if he's alive. I tried calling his girlfriend that evening, but local communications don't reach that far."

Fox shook his head.

"Yeah… We're so isolated without the CCT. I hope he's okay."

"Yeah… Me too."

In the end, Fox had followed Yuki to the dojo, and was writing down team Coffee's information while Yuki waited.

"Hey, Winterburn, could I ask you for a favor.", Fox asked.

"Buy me a two-liter bottle of Doctor Fruity, and we have a deal.", the redhead offered, smirking.

"You got yourself a deal, mate.", Fox laughed.

"So, what do you need?"

"Remember when Velvet said she only got the new weapon a couple of weeks ago?"

"Yeah. How did that happen anyway? I thought hunters almost never change their weapons. Or is that just Atlas military training?"

"It's not just Atlas. She's the first huntress I've seen add a weapon later.", Fox explained.

"Add a weapon? I don't see her carrying anything else. What's her primary?"

Fox smirked.

"I think I'll let you find out in combat. Wait… you already did. Must have missed it. She's… so powerful it's a little unfair."

Yuki did an eye-roll but did actually remember something.

_The camera thing. She had… That was my __pistol__. What is that thing, and how does it figure into her weapon?_

"O-kay then. Go ahead and play these games. I'll figure the camera out eventually. What's the favor?"

"Oh, so you did notice. Just can't figure out what it is.", Fox smirked.

"Aaanyway. The favor you were asking for?"

"Velvet's rope dart. She's okay with it, but…" Fox sighed. "I'm worried about her safety. And Coco's. If they get jumped, Coco's weapon isn't agile enough. She'll need Vel. You're fast, accurate, agile… You look like you know your stuff, and you're gonna be around for a while. Could you try and train Velvet on the rope dart? I know it's different from your staff, but… You at least know something about range and balance. Coco and I are brawlers. We just smash things until they break.", Fox laughed wryly.

Yuki looked at Fox, surprised.

_Won't put food on the table, but if I can keep one of the most promising teams this generation from getting killed..._

"Okay, sure. I'll show Velvet what I know. May not be much, mind you. I don't really know how rope behaves in a weapon, but I know a thing or two about ranged melee.", the redhead replied.

"Thanks."

The cafeteria was surprisingly busy.

"Bloody hell. This is going to take a while.", Fox muttered.

"What better way to spend a Friday evening than relaxing with friends eating snacks? You weren't the only ones with that idea.", Yuki obsserved.

"Speaking of, I want to get started doing just that asap. Go get your stuff now. I'll meet you back in our room.", Fox suggested.

"Sure. Have fun standing around here.", Yuki said, laughing.

"Have fun in your goblin cave.", Fox smirked.

"It's not cave, or a closet!", Yuki fake-pouted, walking off.

Room 0334, formerly an office supply room, slowly rose from the darkness. One fluorescent lap after another came to life to light the white-walled room. On the side that wasn't full of boxes, sat a decidedly out-of-place metal frame bed.

_I kind of hope I can move to the dorms eventually. This bed is worse than a sleeping bag. On a rock. In a leaky tent. In the middle of a rainstorm._

Yuki quickly shoved the things on the bed into the large backpack resting by the wall. In less than a minute, the hunter was on the way back to the dorms. A hunter had to be ready to move at a moment's notice. A social pariah receiving death threats from the Atlesian elite, doubly so. After a moment of consideration, Yuki took off the belt holding the pistol on the right, four magazines on the left.

_Should probably clean these later today._

The hunter dropped the magazine out of the pistol and racked the slide to make sure the chamber was empty.

_I guess I can trust I'll be safe for the rest of the night._

The pistol slid back into its specially made holster. Yuki threw the holster and magazine pouches in a side pocket on the backpack. The hunter's day on duty had officially come to a close.

Coco answered the door in just a couple of seconds. She'd clearly been waiting for… well, Fox and the snacks, probably. The fashionista was also wearing an uncharacteristically plain outfit consisting of black jeans and a brown t-shirt.

"You're traveling light.", Coco commented, closing the door.

Yuki turned to Velvet, sitting on the bottom bunk on the left side of the room in a dark green t-shirt and bluish-gray jeans.

"Her definition of 'light' differs from us mere mortals, eh?", Yuki asked, setting the large backpack on the floor.

The faunus giggled.

"You got her number."

Coco leapt toward the bed and poked Velvet on the side.

"That's for making fun of me.", she said, sticking her tongue out at Velvet.

Velvet grabbed the nearest pillow and lightly smacked Coco with it. Coco was about to retaliate with another pillow but paused when the door opened. Fox stepped into the room, carrying a bag. Velvet's eyes seemed to light up at the promise of snacks. Coco took advantage of the distraction and whacked Velvet with the pillow. Fox grinned and looked at Yuki.

"Oh, you're here already. Cool.", he said to the redhead.

Yuki looked at the bed. The two huntresses were caught in a fast-paced pillow fight. Fox gave Yuki an amused look.

"Enjoy this behind-the-scenes look at team Coffee's time off. As you can see, this team of elite fighters keep their reflexes sharp by practicing whenever an opportunity presents itself.", Fox mockingly narrated.


	4. Friends and Allies

A small coffee table in the middle of the room was overflowing with chips, candy and soda. The windowsill held the team's massive TV. With white curtains blocking out the moonlight, the device cast a sharp, clear image so wide it was nearly obscured by the bunk beds on either side of the window.

Oh, to have the entertainment options of a millionaire.

It wasn't like Yuki was really complaining, or even jealous. The projector and its speaker bar made the dorm room feel like a small movie theater. It was an oasis in a world gone insane.

_Work hard, play hard. These guys sure embrace the philosophy._

The backpack was resting by the door. The redhead had tossed the jacket next to the backpack, now wearing a light gray turtleneck sweater and reddish brown pants.

"You know, I think we have enough snacks here for ten people.", Coco observed.

"Ten normal teenagers, maybe. Ten fighters who just spent all day out there moving massive rocks and fighting vicious monsters, no way. This is barely enough for four.", Fox quipped.

Velvet glanced at Yuki, then Coco.

"How about that new Try Hard movie?"

Yuki couldn't help laughing.

"Seriously?"

"What? Can't imagine a bunny watching action movies?", Velvet asked, suddenly defensive.

Yuki looked at the faunus' pouty face and backpedaled quickly.

"Oh, no! That's not it! It's just… watching action movies after fighting monsters all day long doesn't really seem like escapism."

"Come on. Watching a bad-ass action hero take down a ton of bad guys is just what we need. I mean, imagine stopping the grimm that easily.", Fox chimed in.

Yuki shrugged.

"Sure, let's do it."

Yuki grabbed a handful of popcorn and plopped down on the bed by the right wall.

"Nice to see you're making yourself comfortable, Winterburn. Feel free to take over my bed.", Fox commented sarcastically.

As if the comment wasn't bad enough, Coco, who was using her scroll to get the movie started, looked at Fox and smirked.

"Wow. Haven't even known each other for a full day and already sharing a bed."

Fox groaned.

"Winterburn, can you toss me that pillow?"

The redhead watched the other tree hunters, amused. Team Coffee's dynamic was… energetic, just like their fighting style.

Fox had small reading light on above the bed and was cleaning his weapons. The handles that housed the firearm parts were detached, and the huntsman was polishing the blades. Coco had presumably handled maintenance on her weapon already, and Velvet didn't need to worry about the rope dart too much. The girls were sipping soda and munching on popcorn. Everyone was half paying attention to the movie. Soon, Fox put down the blade and started cleaning the barrel.

"I hate this part. Hasn't someone designed an alloy that's immune to Dust residue?"

Yuki face-palmed, then calmly got up and dug the holster out of the backpack.

Fox gave the redhead an amused look.

"Forgot to clean your gear?"

Yuki gave a bashful smile.

"Well, this should be quick anyway. It's just one barrel."

The students settled back into their movie night, Yuki and Fox both continuing to complain about Dust residue, and Coco 'six rifle barrels' Adel giving them amused looks.

"Coco, pour me some Fruity? Half a glass would be enough.", Fox asked, apologetically motioning to his oil-stained hands.

Coco started pouring the drink. At almost exactly half a glass, Fox looked in her direction.

"Thanks. Got any napkins on the table? Gun oil doesn't really mix with pop.", he joked.

Yuki observed the scene in silent awe.

_Exactly half a glass. Either his hearing is amazing, or he's got something else up his sleeve._

Coco picked up the glass and stepped to Fox's side of the room.

"Don't bother with the napkin."

The fashionista brought the glass to her teammate's lips and tipped it slowly. Fox took a long sip before backing away.

"Well, that was entirely unnecessary. Appreciated, but unnecessary.", Fox commented, amused.

"C'mon, you were busy. What are teammates for?", Coco joked, sitting back down.

Velvet looked at Yuki.

"Enjoy this behind-the-scenes look at team Coffee's time off. As you can see, this tightly-knit group of comrades will always have each other's back, no matter the challenge. Anything from a horde of grimm to oily hands.", Velvet narrated, clearly struggling not to burst out laughing.

Coco picked up a pillow and tried to swing it at Velvet. Suddenly, Fox simply slid partially off the bed toward the other side of the room and did a slow kick to stop the pillow mid-swing. Yuki laughed.

"If people knew how you keep your combat skills sharp-"

"Like I said, any opportunity to train.", Fox smirked.

Velvet took advantage of Coco's amused, distracted state, and retaliated with a pillow. The fashionista didn't have time to dodge, and the pillow landed on her head with a thump.

"Oh, it is on now, bunny rabbit!"

Coco started to mercilessly tickle her teammate. The faunus howled and squirmed, not really having a chance to escape. Yuki tapped the locking pin into the pistol before racking the slide and making sure everything was working smoothly. The redhead holstered the pistol, done with weapons maintenance. Velvet didn't seem to have a way out, Coco still continuing with the relentless assault.

"Fox!", the faunus guffawed. "A little help?!"

Yuki looked at Fox, raising an eyebrow.

"Is this… a typical evening?"

Fox laughed.

"Not even close. We've… had a rough week. By the time we're off-duty, we're too tired to even eat properly. Can't blame us for letting off some steam when we can, right?"

"Yeah… I hear you.", Yuki sighed before continuing in a lighter tone. "On that note… the bunny could probably use backup.", the redhead smirked.

"From a Fox?", the huntsman quipped.

The joke got just an eye roll from the redhead. Fox got up and served miss Adel some of her own medicine.

"Hey! No fair!", the fashionista yelped, squirming away from the tickling.

The faunus took the opening and rolled off the bed. She leapt to the other side of the room, behind Yuki. The redhead looked at the bunny, amused.

"Get you fluffy butt back over here!", the fashionista laughed.

Fox kept tickling Coco. The huntress grabbed a pillow, and smacked Fox on the backside.

"Hey!"

"Ready to give up?", Coco teased.

Yuki sat down and started eating popcorn, watching the chaos unfold. It was the first time the Atlesian had laughed, since that day. Really, truly laughed, amused and relaxed. It was safe. Team Coffee's dorm room was comfortable and safe.

"Yeah… Face it, we're weird.", Velvet commented, picking up a piece of candy – from Fox's bag.

"We're all weird… hunters. If you're normal, you don't hunt monsters for a living. If you want to help people, you become police, maybe a nurse or a doctor… anything else, really.", Yuki philosophized.

"Oh, the fighter has a deep, thoughtful side.", Velvet smirked.

Yuki gave the faunus a pointed look.

"Fox said it back at dinner. You're all running from something. I'm running from something. Half the hunters I know are the same."

Velvet sighed.

"There is something… beautiful in trusting your life to a couple of people, and wandering the towns and wilderness, protecting people."

The redhead hummed in agreement.

"M-hmm. My old team, Team S.A.W.Y.-"

Yuki was cut off by a pillow to the face.

"Did you have to do that? They were just starting to connect, hunter to hunter?", Coco admonished a clearly flustered Fox.

"Sorry. Seriously, sorry, Yuki. I guess I wasn't watching what I was doing."

Yuki's mere breathing was enough to give away the pointed stare aimed at the hunter. That was followed by the redhead whacking the orange-haired hunter with a pillow. He lit up at the impact.

"Hey, Winterburn is finally game!", he quipped.

Fox glanced at Coco. Coco smirked.

"Uh-oh!", Velvet muttered, curling up to a ball just in time to deflect a pillow from Coco. Yuki checked on Fox just in time to see a pillow. The next instant, the pillow hit the redhead in the chest. Yuki reacted quickly, rolling to the side before standing up. The redhead grabbed a pillow and tried to swat Fox. The hunter responded by tackling the Atlesian back down on the bed.

Fox was fast. Incredibly fast. The Atlesian had had absolutely no time to react, and was now pinned down, defenseless. Trying to push the orange-haired hunter away was pointless.

_He's good. Really good. Stronger than he looks, too. Though I guess the muscles are obvious up close._

The redhead evaluated the position for a split-second and acted swiftly. Legs. Yuki pushed against Fox's legs, getting him off balance for just a moment. It was easy enough to move Fox's hand and roll to the side. Or so it seemed. The hunter lost his balance and fell down on his knees, grabbing Yuki's hands for support.

"Bested by an Atlesian and already on your knees begging for mercy? I expected better from you, Fox.", Coco quipped.

Fox groaned.

"Let's just all be glad that's the joke she went with.", Velvet joked, pointedly looking at Fox's head between Yuki's legs.

"Really? You're the last one on this team I'd have expected that joke from.", Yuki groaned.

Coco laughed.

"Umm… Winterburn, if you have spare time at some point, read a few articles about rabbits. The physical traits may not be the only animal characteristics some faunus have."

"Hey!", the faunus huffed, visibly blushing.

Yuki decided to go with the flow. If suggestive jokes were this team's chosen form of humor…

"Now, how would you possibly know _that_, miss Adel?", the redhead smirked.

The fashionista went speechless. Curiously, the bunny also seemed to go an even deeper shade of red.

The movie was ending. It wasn't like anyone had really paid attention to the plot, but the Try Hard movies all followed the same formula. What changed was how the bad guy met his end.

"I'm half thinking we'll see him again later.", Fox commented.

"Really? I kind of think crashing into the ocean in a burning Bullhead isn't something you can walk off.", Coco commented.

"Well, if he'd had aura...", Velvet suggested."

"Ugh. Please. Do we want to know what a criminal mastermind with aura could do?", Fox replied.

Yuki decided to take a sip of Doctor Fruity, instead of pointing out the painfully obvious.

"And that explosion. I'm pretty sure you can't just have the flame climb up a trail of Dust."

Coco shrugged. Velvet didn't seem to have any insight. Yuki, on the other hand, started laughing out of nowhere. As the other three looked on with raised eyebrows, the Atlesian explained.

"Bad news, cherie. Flames can and will climb up a trail of falling Dust like that.", the redhead laughed. "Alex tipped over a jar of Dust once. On our windowsill. Yeah, most of it fell out the open window in this nice, solid line. And of course, there was a lit torch down on the ground. I think the curtains caught fire. Sam was livid."

Coco looked at Yuki in shock. Fox was laughing. Velvet just smiled.

"Sam, Alex, Yuki… Team Savvy, right?", the faunus asked.

Fox stopped laughing. Coco's shock turned to curiosity.

"Yeah… My team. Our team. Sam Greene, Alex Zelinsky, Wattana Saengkaew, and me."

Fox thought for a moment.

"I guess savvy is better than… Saw-y?", the brawler quipped.

The Atlesian smirked.

"Trust me, anything you can come up with, Wattana already did. Great teammate, brilliant partner in combat… but the jokes." Yuki groaned. "All the jokes. And she uses saw blades as weapons so..."

Coco gave Yuki a sympathetic look. Fox groaned. Velvet shook her head.

"So, you have your own Yang Xiao Long. The puns. All the puns."

"Your Yang and our Watts would get along famously.", Yuki joked.

"Or bring Remnant to its knees.", Coco postulated.

The top bunk was fairly comfortable. Surprisingly, it still lost to the beds in Atlas Academy dorms. Yuki had assumed the military academy would have been bare-bones in comparison to the academies in other kingdoms. At the same time, Atlas made a fair amount of money from exporting technology. Its neighbors weren't all so fortunate.

"Hey!", Velvet suddenly yelped.

"What? Can't I wish my teammate good night?", Coco asked coolly.

"We have a guest!", the faunus protested.

"I love it how that's the first thing you two worry about.", Fox commented sardonically.

"You look so cute when you blush.", Coco continued, ignoring Fox.

The hushed, teasing tone of the fashionista's voice gave away the intent of the comment, and left Yuki wondering how exactly she'd wished her teammate good night.

"Again, guest!", Yuki heard the faunus protest.

Suddenly Yuki's scroll flashed. A friend request from a new user. -beacon-dot-acad. The redhead tapped a couple of buttons, and a chat window appeared. Before Yuki had time to type anything, a message from Fox popped up.

Sorry about… you ending up in the middle of this, I guess. Like I mentioned, rough week for all of us. These two would've probably just cuddled up for the movie if you hadn't been here.

Yuki typed a quick reply.

No reason for you to apologize. Any of you. Aww. Sucks that they held back just because I'm here. Those two are adorable.

Fox's reply came in just a couple of seconds.

Heh. Yeah, they are. Adorable one moment, bad-ass the next. I guess they didn't want to give you the wrong impression of their relationship.

Yuki smirked.

Oh, really? And what might that wrong impression, be pray tell? While you're at it, what's the "right impression"?

The redhead was expecting a message from Fox. Instead, Velvet's voice came from the other side of the room.

"Hey, Yuki?"

"Yessss?", the Atlesian asked carefully.

"I know what this looks like, but don't get the wrong idea.", the faunus explained.

"It's cool. Good friends are allowed to be good friends without being something more.", Yuki replied, leaning over the side of the bed to look at Velvet.

Velvet was cuddling Coco, the faunus' back resting against the fashionista. Coco looked up at Yuki, down at Velvet, and burst into giggles.

"We're… It's complicated, alright?"

The redhead rolled their eyes.

"Ever read the diaries of other hunters? Teams grow close. A lot of them grow really, really close. So many hunters end up in relationships with their teammates."

"I guess when you trust your literal life and limb to someone every day, that bond can sometimes grow beyond friendship. Especially because this isn't a strict military thing with rigid chain of command, or 'no fraternization' rules.", Fox pondered.

"True, I suppose.", Velvet agreed.

Yuki laughed before reaching over the side of the bed and giving Fox a pointed look. The brawler raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Strict military thing with a rigid chain of command? You saw Flynt and Neon at the festival. Did those two seem 'strict' or 'rigid' to you?", the redhead challenged. "Yes, they're totally an item."

Fox shook his head.

"Okay, fair point. So, teenagers are teenagers, even in a military academy."

"Oh yeah.", Yuki laughed. "And remember, Funky is one of the best teams Atlas has. I mean, mean a little short-ranged, half distractions and half stealth, but… they're good. Damn good. Neon once dodged a dozen or so of Alex's arrows, and Flynt's sound blasts can deflect my shots. They almost passed us in match scores this year."

Velvet gave Yuki a curious look.

"_Almost_ passed you? So, they're good enough to be sent to the tournament, and they're 'almost' as good as you?"

Yuki sighed heavily.

"Exactly. And I can only hope my team doesn't hate me for it."

Coco slowly looked up at Yuki. The fashionista tried to hide it, but the shock was evident on her face.

"Don't tell me..."

Yuki shrugged.

"Yup. We could've all met on the arena if… the shit with Schnee hadn't happened. I cost my team the tournament sp-"

Velvet shot up, hopping off the bed.

"Bullshit! That racist asshole blackmailing your headmaster cost your team the tournament. Don't you fucking dare blame yourself for standing up to what's right!", Velvet exclaimed.

Yuki looked at the faunus. Her face was red. She was suddenly furious.

"I… I know. It's just, that was my decision. And I overdid it. I should've grabbed him and legged it when he tried to get up and run. I kept fighting those S.D.C. goons. I was just so pissed. Good thing I didn't have my weapons."

Yuki glanced down. Coco's eyes had gone from sleepy and relaxed to icy cold.

"_Tried to_ get up and run? So they weren't really 'pushing around' or harassing someone. They were assaulting him.", the fashionista concluded in a menacing monotone voice.

The look genuinely worried Yuki. Coco Adel seemed like the type to take crap from anyone, and she was more than skilled enough to take down anyone in her way. The look the fashionista wore was the same that had preceded Yuki beating down a security team. And Coco never went anywhere without her 'purse'.

"Well, they weren't beating him up or anything… yet, at least."

"Yeah, yet.", Velvet spat.

"Now I'm suddenly hoping we'll run into those S.D.C. wankers one day.", Fox commented.

Fox seemed to be seething on the inside, even though he looked calm at first glance. Secretly, Yuki was glad this team of hunters could see eye to eye with those who couldn't tolerate abuse of faunus. There were humans who disliked seeing the faunus treated badly, but very few actually stepped in or tried to change things. Only those with faunus friends, colleagues, or loved ones would usually care. The redhead knew it would've been hypocritical to judge those who did nothing, of course. If it hadn't been for Ilia, Yuki likely wouldn't even know what the faunus went through daily. As if to drive the point home, the girl had disappeared, leaving Yuki with no idea of what had happened. It had been years, but Yuki never forgot. Couldn't forget. Ilia had been one of the only friends the redhead had had. One of the only people to never cast judgment. And she'd vanished. Yuki had never been able to stop fearing the worst. Seeing how faunus were treated in Atlas, the wrong person might have found out Ilia's most closely guarded secret. Yuki had no real evidence that the faunus was still alive.

"Winterburn, you still with us?"

Fox's question brought Yuki's attention back to the room.

"Yeah, sorry, lost in thought.", the redhead laughed.

"Clearly.", Fox snarked.

"So, I have to ask. Feel free to kick my arse if I'm digging into something too personal. People don't just lose it and pummel a gang of racists, as brilliant as that would be. There's a reason you fight that fight."

"There is.", Yuki simply stated. "An old classmate. A friend."

_For one._

"Please tell me that friend is fine.", Velvet commented, still seething.

"Yeah. I… think so.", Yuki offered. "I think she moved to Menagerie to live with her relatives. Hiding her heritage was just too much for her in Atlas. Can't say I blame her."

It was one of the plans Ilia had talked about, so for all Yuki knew, that was exactly what had happened.

"Something happened to her.", Coco pressed.

"What happened to her was Atlas culture. It wasn't any one thing. Being judged and hiding herself every day was just more than anyone could take.", Yuki explained. "I remember her whenever I see someone mistreating a faunus."

Velvet had gone back to cuddling Coco. The fashionista was holding her friend even tighter, as if to protect her from everything wrong in the world. As Velvet's partner, Coco more or less had a sworn duty to do exactly that. Normally it was against grimm, but hunters did protect their teammates from any danger they might face.


	5. Ghosts of the Living

The bullhead shook. The muffled roar and boom of the auto-cannon firing echoed around the small cabin.

"Watts! Yuki!", Alex shouted. "Look out!"

Wattana and Yuki, who'd been focusing on the swarm of grimm in front of the craft, took a look to the side and saw three small, bird-like grimm coming straight for the right-side door. Both cadets instinctively crouched down on their seats, protecting their heads. The bullhead banked left. Instead of coming right through the window, the three grimm hit the door. One of the three, a creature that looked like a small nevermore, somehow held on to the edge of a smashed window.

"Get it off! Whatever it takes! We can't fly like this!", general Ironwood shouted.

Ironwood was sitting in the row in front of the students. He was right next to the window. The grimm stared at the general, close enough Yuki could almost imagine him reaching out and strangling the beast with his bare hands. The monster put its head through the window. The beak alone was a weapon powerful enough to snap the general's neck in seconds. Instead, it lunged forward and embedded its beak in the general's arm.

"Stay down! I'll handle this one!", Alex shouted over the general's cry of pain.

The teenager quickly unfolded the packed-up compound bow and let loose an arrow. The projectile hit the grimm in the eye but the pain only seemed to make the monster more determined. The twisted, nightmarish bird creature shrieked loudly enough to drown out the engines. The silver lining was that the beast had to let go of Ironwood's arm. It was still trying to climb in, far from giving up. One of its claws let go of the door, looking ready to slash or grab something. Or someone.

"I can't shoot! Zelinsky! Hit it again!", the general commanded, his voice wavering.

Another swarm of grimm was charging the bullhead from the front. The craft was being thrown from side to side. Alex was having trouble reaching his arrows.

Yuki, figuring a hail mary pass was better than nothing, reached for the staff. It was impossible to get much force behind the swing, being shaken around in a small cabin full of people and seats, but the young cadet flung the weapon at the monster's head and hoped for the best.

"Nice one!", Sam cheered as the staff hit the grimm in the face.

The monster, instead of letting go, seemed to convulse. Its head jolted backwards unnaturally as the aircraft shook. Its talons seemed to dig into the door. The force of the convulsing grimm was enough to make the metal crumple. Yuki quickly pulled back the staff, trying to decide if another go would do them any good.

"Sergeant! The door is coming o-!", the general shouted to the intercom, to the copilot.

Ironwood hadn't finished his sentence when the door gave in, replacing noise of screeching metal with deafening whooshing of air. The noise, however, was far from being the passengers' most immediate concern. They all watched as the grimm, still trying to fly, was thrown away from the craft's fuselage, only to hit the engine. Debris from the torn door immediately hit the side of the engine. It was pure luck that Yuki was looking up at the wing and happened to see the fire blanket hanging up near the ceiling. Driven more by adrenaline that logical thought, the redhead pulled the blanket from its pouch and held it over the seats. The engine exploded into a fireball, sending a shockwave of heat through the empty door frame. Despite the wind trying to rip it away, the blanket was pushed against the seats by the rush of pressure and heat. Yuki couldn't be sure, but it looked like the general had one of the corners of the blanket and holding it down with his good hand.

The wave of heat was again replaced with a stream of frigid air. The general turned around in his seat, seemingly ignoring his massive injury.

"Winterburn! Pack this under your seat! We can't let it get sucked out!"

"Yes, sir!"

Yuki stuffed the blanket under the seat and took a look at the cabin.

"What the hell?!", Yuki head Wattana shout.

Wattana had beaten Yuki to it. The cabin looked horrible. There were pieces of metal embedded in the window just by Yuki's shoulder, and the window was so burnt it was hard to see through it. Burn marks and shrapnel covered the floor near the door.

"How- How the hell did this happen?", the redhead wondered out loud.

"Good work, Winterburn. This… would have been much, much worse without your quick thinking.", the general commented, his voice wavering again.

"Thank you, sir! Just doing what you taught me, sir!", Yuki heard a distant, familiar voice reply to Ironwood. The teenagers mind couldn't process the disaster unfolding around the team and the general.

The bullhead was shaking and rolling from side to side. The grimm had backed away from the explosion, but the destroyed engine and exploded fuel tank were now threatening to bring the vehicle down. Yuki brought the nausea and vertigo under control for long enough to look at Watts.

"Are you guys okay?"

Wattana seemed hesitant to say anything, avoiding both Yuki and Alex. Yuki turned around to look at the rest of the team. Sam's face was frozen in shock. For a split-second, Yuki couldn't figure out why.

"I'll live. Nice work with the blanket, Yuki.", Alex replied.

Alex's compliment, accompanied by a reassuring smile, should have been comforting. Instead, seeing the archer's face made the nausea rush back. Yuki grabbed an air sickness bag from the seat pocket and vomited. It was all too much.

Alex's left eyelid was split in half, the halves unnaturally hanging over the eye. Most of the damage was covered by blood, but the worst part was easily visible. There was a small piece of metal sticking out from Yuki's teammate's left eye.

The redhead clutched the blankets, gagging. After a few seconds to establish that yes, this was the real world, it was safe, and the room was team Coffee's dorm room, Yuki sat up on the bed. The Atlesian carefully and quietly climbed down from the top bunk.

"Can't sleep, eh?", Fox asked through the curtain surrounding the bottom bunk.

"Yeah… Too much snacks, I guess.", Yuki lied hastily.

Fox laughed quietly.

"I think we all overdid it a little."

"Probably.", Yuki replied, faking a laugh.

"Going out or something?"

"Just going to the little hunter's room. End of the hall and on the left, right?"

"Not even a student and knows this place like the back of their hand.", Fox confirmed.

Yuki didn't reply, heading out of the room. The image of Alex's bloodied eye came back. Then Ironwood's ripped-apart arm. The redhead walked faster.

"It should've been me. I was the one next to that door. Why Alex? Why couldn't I just kill that fucking grimm faster?", the redhead hissed.


	6. Combat Ready

Yuki woke up to sunlight sneaking in between the curtains. The Atlesian's scroll was still sitting on the small shelf on the wall. Seven fifty. Ten minutes from everyone's alarms going off, so there was no point in going back to sleep. Yuki looked around to see if anyone else was awake. The other top bunk was empty, so Velvet was likely up already. Looking down, Yuki saw the curtains surrounding both Coco's bed on the other side of the room, and Fox's bed right below, were closed. Most of team Coffee was still fast asleep, apparently. Like an expert hunter, Yuki silently slid down the ladder. Like an expert hunter who'd been drinking continuously for the past half decade, Yuki slipped on something, but somehow managed to fall down softly and nearly silently.

_Terrible situational awareness or awesome reflexes? Can't decide._

The redhead checked to see what had caused the tumble. It was a shirt left on the floor. Dark green with some kind of a logo on it. The same t-shirt Velvet had been wearing the night before.

C'mon, at least put away your laundry properly, people!

Yuki couldn't help smiling. It wasn't like team Savvy was the neatest group of people, either. Even if they were fighting monsters most horror movies would consider too much, most of their life was still that of teenagers in a college dorm. Or had been, at the very least. Getting up from the floor, Yuki noticed another t-shirt. This one was black with some writing on it.

_Oh, the Adel family would have a heart attack if they saw Coco treat clothes like this._

The redhead's mind went to the conversation the previous evening. The fashionista certainly didn't care what her parents thought. The t-shirt on the floor may or may not have been a small act of rebellion.

Yuki stepped back in the room, teeth brushed and ready to face the day.

"Morning, Winterburn. Up already? Don't tell me you Atlas specialists get up at five every morning.", Fox quipped.

"Morning, sunshine. Nope, we cadets get up at six forty-five or so. And please don't call me a specialist. I'm nowhere close to that rank… yet.", Yuki fired back.

"I hope you slept well. I know I'd have trouble sleeping in a new place for the first day or two.", Velvet greeted.

Coco and Velvet were both out of bed, sitting on Coco's bed sorting through piles of clothes.

"I know what you mean. I slept great, though. Must be the bed.", Yuki joked, thinking of the piece of junk in the supply room. "Oh, and I slipped on your t-shirt coming down the ladder just now, so thanks for that."

The faunus went red. She seemed more embarrassed than having your clothes on the floor would warrant. Then again, Velvet Scarlatina did seem easily embarrassed.

"Umm… Sorry? Won't happen again."

There was an opportunity for a joke open.

"It's fine. I'm a hunter. I can handle a t-shirt.", Yuki began, having just confessed to not being able to handle a t-shirt. "And it's not like yours was the only one on the floor. Come to think of it, you weren't in bed when I woke up, so I should have bumped into you going to or coming from the bathrooms. Last I saw you, you were embracing miss Adel here. Now you're not in your bed, and there are t-shirts thrown on the floor. Persistent rumors could start this way."

Coco seemed far cooler and more composed than most would be after the suggestion.

"You're the one who brought up how close hunters can get. You're the one who brought up that we were simply embracing last night. You're the one who brought up how friendship can take many forms. Would it surprise you that we fell asleep together, calming each other down after the heated discussion last night?", Coco challenged, slowly, dramatically walking past Yuki to get to the door.

"Not at all, miss Adel. As I said, friendship can take many forms, with varying levels of intimacy involved.", Yuki replied, keeping up the farce.

Coco turned around, her hand already on the door handle.

"Have fun trying to figure out what we are. Hope you have headache pills.", Coco quipped.

"Soo, any luck trying to figure out if I'm guy or a girl yet? Don't worry, I have headache pills too if you find yourself running out.", Yuki playfully shot back.

"Sometimes, going after the simple answers is the most convoluted path out there.", Fox jokingly philosophized.

Coco opened the door and stepped out.

"Oh, and Winterburn? I literally couldn't care less. That's the single least interesting thing about you.", the fashionista commented, not even turning around.

Fox laughed. Yuki looked at the huntsman.

"Was that a compliment that sounded like an insult, or an insult that sounded like a compliment?", the redhead asked.

"Maybe seventy-thirty? More compliment than insult, definitely.", Fox replied.

The four hunters entered the dojo. Unlike most, the academy dojo didn't have changing rooms or showers. It was in the same building as the student's dorm rooms, and Beacon encouraged students to practice in their combat clothes. A t-shirt and sweatpants made things seems too easy for someone who would face combat in a tight jacket, jeans and heavy shoes. Traditional martial arts wear was also too loose compared to most everyday clothing.

"So, which one is our spot?", Coco asked.

"Number six. I picked a corner so Velvet could practice throws without disturbing others.", Fox replied.

"So, thoughtful of you.", Velvet commented, her tone unreadable.

"What you're doing isn't easy. It's powerful in trained hands, but it's not easy.", Yuki warned.

"The path to success never is… sensei.", Velvet jokingly replied.

"Another title I haven't earned.", Yuki replied.

The dojo was split into eight areas with wood flooring separating them. It wasn't the traditional way of doing things, but very few things about training hunters was. Yuki had gotten the right to use the dojo along with the right to sleep at the school, all in exchange for helping the staff. On most days, guard duty and protecting the rebuild efforts provided more than enough exercise. What Yuki really used the dojo for was hand-to-hand practice. Most of the time, going in with your bare fists wasn't the smartest move against the grimm, but the redhead wanted to be ready for every eventuality. Besides, most hand-to-hand moves were adaptable to armed fighting.

Yuki had changed to a polo shirt just to have something cool and comfortable for indoor use. Everyone else was wearing t-shirts. Earlier, they had discussed the school's recommendation to wear full combat clothing. Fox had mentioned that the dojo was hot and stuffy, and the school's recommendation had been promptly disregarded.

"So… What's the plan today?", Velvet asked.

"We should warm up with something lighter first.", Coco suggested.

"Little hand-to-hand sparring maybe?", Fox added, looking at Yuki.

"I would love to see what you can do, in case we end up out there together again.", Yuki smirked.

Coco and Velvet moved to one corner of the designated, spot, Yuki and Fox took another.

"The usual warm-up?", Coco asked Velvet.

"Sure. No kicks, though. We don't have the space.", the faunus observed.

"Soo… Anything in particular on your mind, Winterburn?", Fox asked, doing stretches.

"How about this: basic boxing, plus locks, plus holds. Basically, anything goes but kicks. Not a match, so no 'winners' or anything.", Yuki suggested.

"Sure.", Fox replied, raising his fists.

Yuki went in with a basic attack, striking with the side of the hand. The technique wasn't the most effective for fistfights, but it was basically a knife strike without a knife, adaptable to bottles, bricks, batons… any improvised weapon. Fox raised his arm to protect his head. At the last second, he lowered his arm just a little, causing Yuki to stop and pull back. If he'd had tonfas or blades, the blade would've been a hair's width from taking Yuki's arm off. The brawler then responded with a simple right hook. Had it been a bar fight, Yuki would've simply sidestepped, but thinking like a trained fighter, the redhead feigned a step to the right before lunging to the left. Fox's arm sailed past Yuki at a safe distance, and the redhead was able to deliver a left-handed uppercut. Fox dropped to his knees, easily avoiding the punch. Unfortunately, Yuki's momentum was behind the punch, leaving the Atlesian vulnerable. Fox, meanwhile, fortified his position, bringing his arms in front of him to cover his face. Yuki tried to use the momentum and punched down with both hands. Fox countered, his arms protecting both his face and body. The redhead sensed something was coming, and focused for a moment. A shadowy echo of Fox boosted up, driving his fists toward Yuki's face with his entire body weight. Had Fox had even just tonfas, the attack might have been devastating. Had he actually surprised the Atlesian, the attack might have been devastating. Yuki however, knowing what was coming, rolled to the right just _before_ Fox started to move, getting behind him for a blink of an eye. A burst of punches followed.

"You're good. That speed…. If you had weapons...", Fox commented, looking surprised and slightly confused.

"Free head massage.", Yuki joked. "If I still had a head myself. You'd have driven your blades through my jaw."

The warmup continued with Yuki and Fox evenly matched. Changing up sparring partners did very little to the results. Velvet was surprisingly stronger than Fox, landing rapid-fire blows in bursts. Coco Adel was… Coco. The fashionista wasn't as fast, but when one of her punches connected, the recipient would find themselves in the next town over.

Noticing the supposed warm-up was starting to really eat into their ninety-minute reservation, Fox gave Yuki a look and spoke to his team.

"So, weapons practice now? Velvet, they have rope dart replicas now, right?"

"They do… now. I had to make one myself. A few other students made some too.", Velvet scoffed.

Fox came back from the equipment rack with tonfas, while Coco only had a shield. The fashionista seemed to be able to make any blunt object into a weapon. Velvet had a fairly basic rope dart. The rope was thick, and the blade made up in mass what it lacked in precision.

"So, Yuki.", Velvet started.

"Yeah?"

"I know you use staves but… our weapons are still kind of similar. In a way. Maybe."

The faunus was getting less sure of herself with every word. Yuki let out an amused hum.

"My weapon is a glorified metal and wood stick. You took something pointy and tied a rope to it.", the redhead laughed.

Velvet giggled.

"So, you can at least give me some pointers, even though your weapon is an… invention of necessity?"

"There isn't much difference between quarterstaff and a meteor hammer if you look at it the right way. My staff is solid, a rope isn't. Either way, you use your body to swing mass A, the end of the weapon, into mass B, a grimm's stupid face. From there it's about the same.", Yuki replied.

The comment was, of course, blatantly false. The weapons were very, very different. However, Velvet seemed so unsure of herself the white lie seemed justified to reassure the faunus. Yuki took a 'practice rope dart' and examined it. It was a ball tied to a length of fairly thin rope. The Atlesian threw the ball backwards with a flick of the wrist, holding on the rope about halfway down its length. There was a dent on the padded dojo wall, a perfect mark to aim for. In a wide arch, the redhead swung the rope over their shoulder, stepped forward and extended the throwing arm. The rope made a whooshing sound, piercing the air before stopping as the ball smashed into the wall a mile from the target.

"No experience with rope darts, eh?", Fox challenged.

"Did you actually look? Do you know what I was aiming for? I can put force behind the throw just fine. My accuracy just sucks.", the redhead replied, groaning.

Velvet rolled her eyes.

"Were you aiming for that dent?", the faunus asked innocently.

"Yes. Yes, I was.", Yuki deadpanned.

Velvet eyed her water bottle sitting on the floor, picked up a rope dart, and swung it in an underarm throw, letting out more rope. She pulled the rope back in one swift movement, swung it around, and threw it forward. Her technique was good. She was angling her wrist just right. The ball touched the cap of the bottle with just enough force to tip it over.

"Umm...", Yuki stammered. "Why am I here again? She's better than I am."

Velvet sighed.

"Can I just show you?"

The faunus looked at Coco and readied the rope dart. The fashionista nodded. Velvet landed a perfect hit on the fashionista's left thigh. Yuki winced. Coco hadn't used her aura to lessen the impact. Velvet, seeing the look on Yuki's face, let out a wry laugh.

"Yeah, that's all the bloody force I can put into a trow.", the faunus commented.

Yuki smiled.

"Honestly, it's the accuracy that matters. The strength is easier to train. You look like you've got a ton of practice in already."

Velvet hummed.

"I practice when I can. I just need pointers from someone who doesn't think lifting a car is light exercise.", Velvet snarked, looking at Coco.

"Nice! Your footwork is good. It's going to take some practice to get the strength, but you've got the technique down.", Yuki cheered as Velvet used her weapon to bind the redhead's staff mid-strike. "If you can bind my staff, you can bind a grimm's arm."

They'd decided to practice by having Yuki throw a strike vaguely in Velvet's direction, and Velvet having to hit it with both the accuracy and force to deflect or bind it. The faunus could intercept every last one of Yuki's strikes if she was going for accuracy alone. If she put force behind the throw, her accuracy tended to suffer.

"Don't let your legs go anywhere your mind wasn't two seconds ago. Slow and methodical beats a mad rush every time. But you knew that already. Just keep working out. Keep training the right muscles. You're good at this."

"Hah. Thanks.", Velvet replied bashfully.

"Almost as if you'd done this before.", Fox joked.

"I can only 'borrow' someone's muscle memory. I don't actually learn their skills.", Velvet reminded.

Yuki looked at Velvet, confused. What followed was a long conversation, starting with Velvet's semblance, her ability to copy other hunter's skills perfectly. The discussion spanned the following hour, from the dojo to lunch.

"Hey, Yuki?", Fox asked as the team was leaving the dojo.

"Yeah?", the redhead replied.

"There's 'fast', and then there's dodging someone before they think of attacking you. I'm the fastest fighter I know, and you were keeping up with me."

Yuki smirked.

"I guess. So what's the question?"

"You've never really talked about your semblance."

"Neither have you. Any of you before today. Still not hearing a question, either.", Yuki teased.

Fox laughed.

"Okay, smart-arse. What did you do? How did you react so quickly?"

"I didn't really 'react'. No one is _that_ fast. I guess you could say I just saw it coming."

Fox raised an eyebrow.

"So, you don't actually slow down time?", Fox asked.

"No, I just… perceive everything faster. Can't even move faster, mind you. It's like everything's in slow motion, but it's just my senses working faster. I might go 'bullet time', but if my body physically can't move fast enough to dodge an attack, I'll just see my ass get kicked in more detail.", Yuki laughed, hoping the story was believable.

"That's a shame. Would be hilarious seeing you zip across a room in an instant to dodge an attack.", Coco commented.

"I think Ruby's the only person I've met who could come close to doing that.", Velvet added.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, Ruby's semblance is speed. She moves around nearly instantly. There's one quirk, though.", Velvet laughed.

"You mean the rose petals?", Coco asked, holding back a laugh.

"What? Rose petals? Her last name… wasn't it…?", Yuki asked, eyes wide in amused disbelief.

"Yeah. Rose. And her speed semblance leaves a cloud of rose petals behind her, so you still see where she's running, more or less.", Velvet laughed.

Fox looked at Yuki, a curious expression on his face.

"Are you sure you don't have family in Vale? Your hair is… more or less red, just like hers. You both have a speed semblance… sort of.", the brawler pondered out loud.

"Trust me, if I had family in Vale, I'd have gone to them a long time ago.", Yuki sighed.


	7. Reflection

The new year was supposed to bring with it new hope, new goals and renewed energy. Watching the sleet rain down and form ice on the paths around Beacon, Yuki wasn't convinced. The morning of the last day of the year had seen three small grimm attacks. On the plus side, the reconstruction of the inner aqueduct was finally finished. A good part of the academy's walls had been fixed, too. The redhead watched as last of the construction crew headed inside.

"Nice work, kid. I love how fast you took down those manticores.", the head of the crew said.  
"With respect, sir… That was as much luck as skill. Any more wind and my pistol couldn't have done it."

The two manticores had popped up from the forest, practically without warning. They'd almost started spitting fireballs when Yuki had opened fire. Stopping them from raining fire down on the construction crew had been the priority. Accordingly, the redhead had aimed at the monsters' mouths. The strategy had proven to be an accidental stroke of genius when the rounds, after traveling a couple hundred meters, had essentially hit the grimm from the inside. Yuki knew full well at the edge of its range, the pistol couldn't punch through most grimm's tough skin. The inside of a manticore's mouth, as well as its eyes, were a different story. Repeated salvos of bullets had worn down, and soon dropped, the two grimm.

"Don't call me 'sir'. I work for a living.", the construction worker laughed.

Yuki could only laugh in response.

_Yeah, don't we all? We work… or we die out here._

Yuki's watch lit up, indicating an incoming call. Rather than try to fumble with the watch using gloves, the redhead took the call by picking up the actual scroll.

"Hey. How's things out there?", Fox Alistair asked cheerfully.

He seemed to be calling from an airship, even though team C.F.V. wasn't supposed to return to the Academy for a few more hours.

"I decided I'd frozen my ass of enough for one day, but Velvet and Coco wanted to do some more shopping. How much do you wanna bet they're just glad to get me off their back so they can shop for presents?", the young man continued.

"Presents? Seriously? Do stores even have anything anymore?"

"They get shipments every now and then, apparently."

Yuki couldn't help thinking about team Savvy.

"Any chance mail might get through?"

"Maybe, maybe not. If your letters get to your team, you won't see a reply for a while. They're still saying clearing the backlog could take months."

"Better news than two weeks ago, at least.", Yuki commented.

It felt like the kingdom of Vale was slowly returning to normal, even without the CCT. Paper mail had taken over as the obvious method of long-range communication, but the loss of CCT had caused panic and fear in the villages throughout the kingdom. Predictably, it had been the fear itself that had make the villager's nightmares come true. Word had reached the capital that grimm attacks had caused as much damage in the settlements as they had in the city. Moving mail or other goods by land had become too dangerous, and the seas weren't doing much better.

"In more good news, passenger traffic to Patch is back to normal. I chatted with Oobleck yesterday, and he went there yesterday to visit and old friend and colleague. Port went with him, apparently.", Fox continued.

Since the fateful day nearly three months prior, no ship would make it between Vale and another city without being attacked at least once. Most were attacks by grimm, but criminals were taking advantage of the chaotic seas, too. Ferries and cargo ships were routinely attacked by pirates. Given the risk involved, most ships chose not to brave the odds. What was left only had capacity for a small fraction of the cargo and passengers waiting to travel to and from Vale.

"We're landing in ten minutes. You done with the job? You seem a little… spaced out.", Fox laughed.

"Yeah, we just finished. Sorry.", Yuki laughed bashfully. "I guess I'm just tired… and hungry."

"Meet me at the port. Let's get lunch together.", Fox suggested.

"I'm not going to stand in this cold for another minute.", Yuki laughed. "I'll be at the west entrance."

"That bad, huh? Okay, west entrance.", Fox replied, shaking his head.

Yuki looked to the west. No airship was visible yet. Something else caught the Atlesian's eye. The scaffolding-covered tower. Given how important Beacon Tower was to the CCT, repairs had started practically immediately. The building had taken enough damage that just repairing the walls had been projected to take weeks, before the electronics could even be looked at. Morbid curiosity took over, and Yuki started making searches on local news sites. By the time the Atlesian was in the comfort of the Academy's halls, trawling through the sites had paid off. The redhead pressed play.

_What the hell?_

In a scene of complete absurdity, a teenager was running up the side of the Beacon Tower. From what had been Ozpin's office at the top, flashes of flame lit up the tower. Windows were breaking, and entire sections of the top floor were shattering to pieces. It was a small miracle the teenager in a red hood wasn't getting hit by debris. Then, the terrifying thing came into view.

_Holy f-_

A wyvern was flying directly at the tower, seemingly looking in through the top floor windows. Just as it was about to hit the tower, something happened. Something that should not have been possible. An explosion, a blast of energy, cut through the tower. The massive force shattered the top into pieces. The hooded teenager, despite the chaos, seemed to climb faster. The wyvern was circling back. More flashes of light lit up what was left of the tower. The wyvern landed at the edge of the destroyed building. The teen reached the top, and for a few moments, it looked like was nothing was happening, like the action was over. Suddenly, a burst of energy, a flash of light, shot out.

_This was when she… When she realized we'd lost Nikos._

A flash a thousand times brighter than the earlier explosion enveloped the top of Beacon Tower. When the obviously blinded student shooting the video regained their composure, the series of inexplicable events continued.

_That wyvern looks like it's… Is it covered in stone?_

Most of the giant grimm was now covered in a layer of something. One of its wings seemed completely petrified, the other barely moving. The beast had lost the ability to both hold on to the building and fly. In a few seconds, the wyvern hit the ground far below. The shell shattered, and the familiar cloud of black smoke was carried away by the wind.

_What the hell was that? Does someone have a weapon that encases the target in something? Who has something that powerful?_

Yuki hadn't watched video of the tower before, only heard stories. Most of the stories, even from trustworthy people, had seemed exaggerated.

_I should've just watched this months ago. People kept telling me what happened here, but this… the truth is crazier than the stories._

Noticing that Fox was supposed to land in just a couple of minutes, the Atlesian looked up from the scroll. Yuki had been walking through the school without really paying attention to anything.

_Wow. Really __observant__, Winterburn. __Didn't even realize you'd already walked to the west entrance. Could've been a leviathan on a corridor here and you'd have missed it._

Now paying attention, the redhead immediately felt a presence. Another student was staring at the hunter.

"Can I help you, miss…?", Yuki asked earnestly.

The student was leaning against the wall, clearly waiting for something.

"Oh! Sorry! I guess I was just… shocked to see that again. Shocked to see someone watch it.", the pink-haired girl replied.

"Yeah…" Yuki sighed. "I don't know why I didn't watch it until now."

"Didn't want to relive that day, even for a minute?", the young huntress suggested. "I… We got out of the arena, but then the port was overrun by grimm… It took tens of people just to give us a path inside. I should've gotten my weapon and joined the fight!"

The huntress pulled her hand back, as if to punch the wall.

"Rosa!"

The shout made the girl look to the door. Fox had just walked in, followed by concerned-looking students.

"Rosa." Fox voice softened. "The stadium was full of pro hunters and skilled students. Most retreated to the city and Beacon. They kicked some serious ass in the days and weeks after… But that day, after what went down at the stadium… Ironwood told us no one could blame us for not fighting. He was right."

The student, Rosa, gave Fox a faint smile. Two students behind him stepped forward.

"Oh, and those Ursas you took down later that day? You saved that traffic cop's life.", a black-haired young woman commented.

"We saved that traffic cop's life.", Rosa corrected.

"Always cool running into you guys, but I need lunch. And maybe dry clothes.", Fox joked.

Yuki followed Fox in the direction of the cafeteria.

"So, I have to ask. What got Rosa so worked up?", the brawler asked.

"I… was watching some news footage on my scroll.", Yuki replied.

"I can already guess what you left out, but that's barely an answer.", Fox laughed.

"Beacon tower. That day. That crazy petrified grimm.", Yuki added.

Fox sighed in an aggressive, frustrated tone, quickening his pace.

"So the moment we lost one of the most promising hunters to attend Beacon in ages. The moment we lost a friend. That moment when we lost the comm technology that keeps our word at least something resembling sane?"

"Yeah, that moment.", Yuki replied in monotone. "She talked about how hard it is to even think about that day. She mentioned she evacuated to the academy and didn't go right to fighting the grimm. As if that was..."

"Anything less than human. She's a first-year. The only Beacon first-years I saw fight were teams Ruby and Juniper. They only did it because they'd already gotten caught in the whole disaster.", Fox explained.

"Why the hell would they fight? They could've just hidden away.", Yuki questioned.

Fox shook his head.

"Actually, no. Not really. Pyrrha Nikos'… accident in the last fight. She was still on the arena. She was frozen in shock when that grimm broke in and attacked her. Pretty sure it was a full-grown nevermore. Pyrrha's team stayed to protect her. Team Ruby did too. That's when we made our decision. Our team, team Sun, team Auburn… We stayed and we took down that monster. Atlas gets partial credit. Flynt and Neon stayed and fought with us."

"Holy shit."

"Yeah. Trust me, if we'd had the choice to leave, we'd have hauled ass.", Fox scoffed.

"But a friend was in danger.", Yuki stated.

"Hunters don't leave people behind.", Fox confirmed.

Yuki sighed heavily. Fox noticed and turned to the Atlesian.

"What's going on? Thinking about that day now?"

"Kind of. I'm pissed I couldn't do anything. I left with the rest of the crowd. Didn't even see the nevermore break in. If I'd had my weapons..."

"If you'd had your weapons, if you'd known the nevermore was going to show up, if you'd known Pyrrha was going to freeze… You kicked ass down in Vale when you got your gear.", Fox stated sternly.

"Well, Flynt and Neon stayed.", Yuki challenged.

"Flynt and Neon were _in_ the tournament. They had their weapons. You were a spectator.", Fox concluded.

Yuki shifted around uncomfortably, desperately needing a change of topic.

"So, lunch, huh?"

The cafeteria was less busy than usual. Those who could were spending the last day of the year with their friends and families. The refugees Beacon had taken in were returning to their repaired homes. Yuki was was having fish with potatoes. Fox was enjoying a simple rice dish.

"Appreciating the simple things in life, Mr. Alistair?", Yuki teased.

Suddenly, Fox turned to the redhead, as if to give a cold stare.

"If someone has something to say about what I eat… Well, I'll hear them out after they spend two weeks in a forest without food and water.", Fox spat.

_Wh- _

Startled by the sudden outburst, Yuki decided to change the subject. The redhead had know idea _how_ the simple comment had hit a nerve, but it obviously had.

"Yeah. For a hunter, any meal at all is a luxury at times. Good to get used to that.", Yuki backpedaled.

There was a moment of awkward silence between the hunters.

"Hey, Fox?", Yuki carefully asked.

The brawler turned in Yuki's direction, surprised at the redhead's tone.

"Thank you. Team C.F.V. has been amazing to me these past couple of months. You've been an awesome teammate. So, thanks."

Fox simply continued eating for a few moments before replying.

"No, thank you. I'm pretty sure you've saved my hide more than once. You've helped us stay an effective team through all this.", he replied with a smile. "And… sorry. I know you were making a harmless joke. Haven't done much today so rice balls just… make sense."

"No, I'm sorry. I guess food is a sore spot?"

"Not so much food as poverty."

"Sorry to hear that. I… I hope this isn't insensitive, but at least that's behind you now. You've worked incredibly hard, become one of the most successful hunters of the generation and live a comfortable life now."

"Thank you. I mean that. Sounds like you get it, even if you haven't… lived through it."

_If only you knew._

Both hunters kept eating in silence before the redhead eventually spoke up softly.

"Honestly, I'm still amazed at how understanding you are. I mean, what I did in Atlas was…"

Fox cut the redhead off.

"Necessary. You saw someone being assaulted. You don't have the right to call yourself a hunter if you don't stop that."

"Apparently you _really_ don't get to call yourself one if you do.", the Atlesian mused.

Yuki was just putting down the knife when a reflection on it caught the hunter's eye. A familiar figure was approaching the table

"Let this be my holiday gift to you, cadet. I can tell you right now James… General Ironwood didn't want to expel you. When he knew his… business associates weren't listening, he cursed the decision he'd made. Not for leadership reasons, mind you. It had nothing to do with you. He was furious at himself for giving in to what amounted to blackmail.", Glynda Goodwitch explained.

The professor continued, her voice now quieter.

"Mister Alistair said more or less what the general did a few months ago. No defender of peace could let a vicious assault, such as the one you witnessed, go unanswered."

Yuki could only look at the professor in surprise. Goodwitch continued.

"You didn't hear this from me, but Ironwood sent a copy of your records to Heaven Academy."

Professor Goodwitch stopped and let out a short laugh.

"No one outmaneuvers James Ironwood."

It took Yuki a few moments, and several bites of food to process everything.

"Professor, just to be perfectly clear, what do you mean by 'sent my records to Heaven'?"

"I'm saying professor Lionheart would almost certainly value your outstanding skills above your… disagreements with the people of Atlas.", professor Goodwitch practically whispered.

"Ma'am-"

"Doctor Oobleck mentioned that sea traffic between continents is finally returning to normal. Ships even seem to go to Argus every few weeks.", the professor smirked. "Have an excellent new year, cadet. Mr. Alistair, please send Ms. Adel and Ms. Scarlatina my holiday greetings. And peaceful holidays to yourself as well. Everyone values your work greatly."

Before either Yuki or Fox could reply, Goodwitch had left.

"What's that?"

Fox was pointing at a plain, brown, unsealed envelope with no markings on it. No writing, no digital seal, nothing. It was sitting next to Yuki's plate. The redhead picked it up, looking around to find Goodwitch.

"What is this?"

Yuki pulled out the contents of the light brown envelope, only to find a white envelope. The white envelope was properly sealed. The seal was Heaven Academy's. On the flap, someone had hand-written a single word.

Winterburn

"Scan this seal.", Yuki asked.

Fox, despite his confusion, picked up his scroll and hovered it over the seal.

"Heaven Academy. Sealed about three weeks ago. Addressed to Yuki Winterburn. Sender… Leonardo Lionheart?", Fox gasped.

Yuki carefully cracked the seal, then slid out the contents of the mystery delivery. Fox was sipping his water, trying to make sense of wha was going on. In the envelope was a ticket.

"He didn't. He f-", Yuki gasped.

"What is it?, Fox asked.

Idly turning the ticket around, Yuki spotted at note stuck to the other side of it.

"Just a second."

Yuki peeled the note off and took a good look at it.

I've looked at your record, cadet Winterburn. If you choose to accept my offer, consider yourself a student of Heaven Academy. If you choose to use this ticket to go admire the breathtaking architechture of Argus and **disapper for us to** never meet, at least look at the buyer.

With holiday wishes, Prof. Leonardo Lionheart

Speechless, Yuki slowly placed the note on the table. As Fox was eating, patiently waiting to hear what was going on, Yuki took a look at the ticket itself. It was an open ticket, any Argus Sea Lines ship from Vale to Argus, then almost any train from Argus to Mistral. Wondering about the comment in the note, the redhead looked at the fine print.

Customer ID: Lionheart, Heaven Academy Payment: CreditCo Business Platinum Cardholder: Atlas Academy

Yuki kept staring at the ticket.

"Yuki? What's-"

"A boat ticket to Mistral. Sent by Heaven's headmaster. Paid for by Atlas Academy.", the Atlesian listed in a monotone voice.

"So Glynda-"

"Wasn't kidding. Ironwood did this. In the middle of all the shit he's been in these past few months, general J. freaking Ironwood got me invited to Heaven Academy."

"Looks like someone doesn't want to see you skills wasted."

_If only Ironwood knew what he just did._


	8. Pen Versus Sword

Velvet followed Yuki along the old cobblestone street, lined by cast iron lamps. The lamps had no doubt been genuine gas lamps at one point. Both hunters tightened the scarves around their necks. The wind was icy in Vale, and the rain didn't help things.

"I've never been to this part of the city. I have to ask: how safe is it here?", Velvet asked.

"As safe as anywhere else, honestly.", Yuki replied, eyeing the scratches and dents on benches and parking meters. "It's not a bad neighborhood from what I heard. At least, before the attack. Now, you see bandits right in the business district."

Small shops lined the street. A book store, a seamstress' boutique, an electronics store, a small cafe. Finally, the students saw what they'd come for. A small shop with iron bars on the front window, and a worn wooden sign on the door. A black text on green background described the store.

East Vale City Knife and Firearm

"So… another gun store?", Velvet asked.

Yuki laughed.

"No, they're not. They make their own knives in the shop, and other gear. I replaced a lot of beaten-up staff parts when we were running security here a few of weeks ago. And… about three months ago. Their ammo is top notch too."

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen you go through much ammo. You've been to the range three times since new years, and you've fired on actual grimm, what, twice?"

"Three times. I fired a few rounds when we got attacked Tuesday."

"So, you've fired a couple of magazines in the past month and a half. How do you keep your skills sharp?"

The Atlesian replied with an eye roll.

"I've trained for years, at least four times a week. At least. The Atlesian military doesn't mess around with firearms training.", Yuki explained.

The shop's doorbell was still broken. The window on the door was gone too, replaced by a sheet of metal. Yuki knocked on the metal bars on the store window, using the end of the collapsed staff. Soon, a middle-aged woman opened the door.

"Cadet Winterburn! It's good to see you again. Do come in, the weather is just awful." The woman's voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. "And I'm sure bandits are still lurking around."

She closed the door the moment Velvet entered.

"And your friend is another hunter, I presume?"

"She is. Velvet, meet the finest weapons smith I've ever met, Sylvie Marron. Madam Marron, meet one of Beacon's top students, Velvet Scarlatina.", Yuki replied.

The woman looked at Velvet and smiled.

"From Team C.F.V.Y.? The Beacon tournament winners from last year?"

Velvet blushed.

"That was my team, yeah."

"We're really getting high-profile clients here.", the shopkeeper joked. "So, would you like to look around to see what we have, or do you have something specific in mind?"

"Your steel, what else?", Yuki joked. "Also, I could use another three hundred or so rounds of ammo."

"Coming right up, cadet.", the shopkeeper replied cheerfully. "Take a look at the display case. We have all our knives and blades on there. It's not much, I know, but those bandits stole and damaged a lot of our equipment back then."

Yuki's face fell.

"I am sorry about that, ma'am."

"Don't even start, cadet!", a man's voice roared from the back room. "You saved our shop. You probably saved our lives!"

Yuki was clearly shaken by the man's words and snapped into attention without thinking.

"Y-Yes, sir!"

The man shook Velvet's hand.

"A pleasure, miss Scarlatina."

Realization seemed to wash over Velvet.

"An honor to meet a legend like yourself, monsieur Marron."

"Nonsense. I was just another huntsman. I know Port loves exaggerating the stories. And now I'm not even able to fight... Please do call me Antoine.", the man replied, shaking his wooden cane.

"Your work now is what enables us to keep fighting.", Yuki replied.

The man laughed.

"You kids sure know how to flatter an old man."

"If you're old, what does that make me?", his wife shouted from the back of the shop.

"Okay, so these three would be sturdy enough to throw, and heavy enough to actually stop a charging grimm. They're a little heavier than what you might use for simple throwing, and the wider blade is better for slashing attacks."

Velvet picked two blades, and the rope for them.

"Umm… Yuki, could I ask for a favor?"

"What do you need?"

"Could you, you know, recommend a sheath for a melee weapon? I don't usually carry anything but the camera case.", Velvet giggled.

Yuki chuckled.

"I'll do my best. I'll show you what I know about reaching your weapon quickly and all that. They're bound to have a sheath that works for your style."

Velvet and Yuki were on the shop's back yard. Velvet had unleashed a few throws on a wooden plank, and Yuki had done a few practice strikes with the repaired staff.

"Yeah. My old weapon… It honestly feels like a piece of junk compared to this. Mostly because it was a literally junk.", Velvet observed.

"Well, it's not like we could resupply when all that went down.", Yuki commented. " I told you I had to replace half the parts in this thing. The previous one got so dented that the collapsing mechanism got stuck after the first week. I ran out of ammo for two days on week two. When I took this security gig later, I was down to a single magazine. I had to take ammo as an advance payment just to do the job. It's a good thing I did, too..."

"They mentioned you saved them. Something about bandits. You feel like talking about what happened?"

The redhead sighed.

"Six bandits, two hunters, shop owners asleep. Two of them had snuck upstairs by the time we'd chased away the first four. And the four still got away with a lot of metalworking tools. We're the reason their stock of knives looks like that."

Velvet gave Yuki a stern look.

"Stop. You saved them." The faunus paused. "You. Saved. Them."

Yuki scoffed.

"How do you know that?"

"They said so."

"They could've held their own. We should've stopped the bandits outside, before they ever got in to the store."

"He walks with a cane. She hasn't unlocked her aura, right? They couldn't have stopped a pair of armed home invaders."

"She's a weapons smith, not a fighter. He told me he got injured in a fight years ago."

"Yeah. Port loves telling the story of how he saved a friend's life. Point is, the Marrons weren't in a position to fight back. You saved their lives."

Velvet turned to face Yuki, looking the Atlesian straight in the eye.

"So, stop worrying about a few tools. You did what we're here to do. To protect lives."

"She is right, you know. About all of that. I can make fine weapons, but I can't fight. He needs the cane just to get out of bed these days. Those bastards… They would've killed us just so they could get our weapons."

Yuki and Velvet turned to the house. Mrs. Marron was at the door, watching the two young hunters.

"Cadet, when you were here last, you said you'd like something… pointier with more heft for your staff."

She paused to get something from her pocket. It was a red fabric pouch, tied shut with silver-gray ribbon.

"This is something we just made a couple more of. Sturdy blades, infused with gravity dust to increase their density and durability. I made sure the socket in the handle matches your staff. Still balanced right and works as a simple knife too."

The shopkeeper walked to the yard and opened the pouch. The blade was shiny and polished, much more so than one might expect a practical weapon to be.

"The surface has diamond nanofibers bonded to the gravity dust. If you manage to dent this… I haven't done my job properly.". she laughed.

"Wow.", Velvet gasped.

The shopkeeper handed the blade to Yuki.

"This is… amazing.", was Yuki's reaction.

The shopkeeper smiled.

"This was the absolute least we could do to thank you for saving our lives."

"This is beautiful. I could see a lot of things a skilled hunter could do with a near-indestructible polearm...", the redhead said, smiling mischievously.

The shopkeeper laughed.

"Hold your horses there, kiddo. This is a strong alloy, but it's not magic. Don't expect to split rocks with it.", she replied.

"Aww. I was hoping to start mining for resources on the road.", Yuki joked, test fitting the blade on the end of the staff.

"You could always use it to chop wood and sell it in the villages outside the kingdoms. I'll guarantee you no amount of simple wood can dull this.", the shopkeeper suggested, winking.

"Great. That means skulls won't either.", the redhead grinned.

Velvet's eyes kept shifting between the blade and the excited hunter. The redhead hadn't specified grimm skulls.

The faunus and the redhead were paying for their things, making smalltalk with the old lady.

"That cafe does make delicious sandwiches. Perfect for a quick lunch."

"They really do, and I say this having eaten nothing but those for lunch for a week.", Yuki commented, slightly amused. "Velvet, when do those two get here?"

"Coco said the rail car is running a little behind schedule, but they'll be here any minute."

The hunters were getting ready to leave when a new customer knocked on the door.

"I don't think I've seen her here before. Does seem to carry herself like a huntress.", the shopkeeper observed.

She opened the door, this time keeping the security chain on. Before anyone had time to really register what happened, the chain was slashed in half by something, and the door torn from Mrs. Marron's grip. Yuki and Velvet gave each other a quick look and leapt into cover behind the store shelves. The shopkeeper didn't have the time or training to react. She found herself at the point of a sword. The narrow sword was being expertly handled by a young woman. The assailant was wearing a brown trench coat and knee-high black boots. Her face was framed by black hair and dark gray, silver-rimmed sunglasses. Curiously, she was holding an umbrella or parasol in one hand, the slender sword in the other. A recorded voice started giving orders.

"Slowly walk behind the counter."

The shopkeeper backed away from the door slowly, still looking at the sword pointed at her. It was easy to see why the attacker wanted access to a weapons shop. The sword had massive dents midway along the blade. It was obvious the robber had had to grind off a fair bit of metal just to sheathe the sword.

Thinking of the sheath, Yuki realized something. The woman didn't have one on her. The sword also had an umbrella handle. The umbrella had no handle at all. A concealed sword. Very few hunters felt the need to conceal their weapons. Even bandits tended to carry their weapons openly, as did anyone else outside the kingdoms. This young woman's apparent need for deception was curious.

"Give me order number 234.", the recording continued.

The shopkeeper seemed to think for a moment.

"You! It's you! You had no intention of paying for this, did you?!", she suddenly shouted.

The bandit's face reflected off a glass gun cabinet behind the counter. She was smirking. Suddenly the smile disappeared from her face. Yuki couldn't see the woman's eyes but had a decent guess as to what had happened. The Atlesian saw how close things were to going sideways and prepared, pulling the pistol from its holster. The robber seemed to notice something was happening behind her.

"Velvet, get down!"

The faunus was already ducking into cover.

"And you! Drop the sword! I have my sights on you!", Yuki shouted as commandingly as possible at the robber.

A shadowy echo of the robber was leaping to the right, trying to spin around. The robber's physical body followed a second behind. Despite seeing everything before it happened, Yuki didn't get a chance to stop the bandit before she'd already leaped towards the back of the store. In what seemed like a split-second, the woman was in front of Yuki. A shadowy image of the sword started to move toward the redhead's neck. It didn't take semblance to see that Yuki was outmatched. Velvet used the robber's momentary fixation on the redhead. She snapped a picture as fast as she could and used her semblance to copy the robber's agility. The faunus vaulted over a display case at seemingly superhuman speed before bringing a copy of the robber's own sword down on her arms. The young woman reacted with equally unbelievable agility, turning ninety degrees, trying to deflect the blow. The redhead took the split-second opportunity, firing three rounds at the shadow of the sword, and the hand holding it. However fast the robber was, Yuki's bullets were faster. She lost her concentration, and only her aura saved her from having her arms both shot to pieces by Yuki and cut to shreds by Velvet.

"Nice!", Yuki cheered, watching the robber stumble back.

The young woman, however, wasn't done. She slashed upward with all her might, the blade ripping at Velvet's aura. The strike would have been instantly fatal on someone without aura, and enough to deplete an inexperienced hunter's aura entirely. Yuki reacted more on instinct than rational thought. The Atlesian fired three rounds in a fraction of a second, followed by two, then another two. The robber didn't seem to even notice. Velvet, thankfully still supercharged, parried her opponent's sword, binding it and pinning the tip to the floor. Terrifyingly, the blade hit Velvet's leg on its way down, and the huntress' aura flashed brown. Still, she stepped forward, right on the sword blade before delivering an upwards slash herself.

The robber recoiled, a pink light surrounding her and a cut on the jacket's left shoulder slowly turning red. Clearly panicking, the thrust at Yuki, causing the redhead to stumble backwards and fumble with reloading the pistol. She suddenly jumped back, bringing the sword in front of her head in a high guard pose. Yuki, instead of taking the bait and switching to the staff, slammed a fresh magazine in the pistol and took aim at the bandit. To the Atlesian's surprise, she somersaulted backwards, landing on the counter.

"Give me order number 234.", the recording repeated.

In one swift movement, the woman's sword was on Mrs. Marron's neck. Yuki had no choice but to lower the pistol.

"Just do it! You said you made it for her anyway! Don't die for nothing!", Velvet shouted.

Antoine Marron was standing at the door to the backroom, eyes wide in shock. He looked at his wife, then the sword, and nodded. Together, the couple picked up a package, and opened it. He held the padded wooden box. He slowly picked up the sword inside and held it out for the woman, the old sword still held on her wife's throat. She smirked, picked up the weapon, and suddenly threw the old sword at Yuki. The Atlesian barely had time to see the blade coming. Moments from hitting Yuki in the face, the blade was deflected by something crashing into it. The redhead realized it was Velvet's old weapon. Both weapons missed Yuki by a hair's width before hitting a shelf next to the Atlesian. The redhead glanced at the faunus. She smiled triumphantly before looking at the front of the shop again. In the second or so it took Yuki to get up from the floor, the robber left. When the two hunters were back on their feet, a brown coat was disappearing out of a closing door. There was a note of some kind on the counter, written on a napkin.

Velvet glanced at Yuki before dashing to the door.

"We can get her!"

Yuki, despite being less than convinced, rushed to the counter and without really thinking, picked up the note.

"Are you two okay?", Mr. Marron asked, still visibly shaken up.

"We're fine. We'll track this criminal down. Stay safe!", was all the redhead said before rushing after Velvet.

Yuki almost literally ran into Fox.

"Oi! What's going on here?", he asked, irritated and startled.

"The shop got robbed. The asshole tried to kill Yuki!", Velvet fumed.

"What?"

"It's your aura she broke. I'm in the red but it's stable."

"What?!"

Coco and Fox stared at the other two hunters for half a second.

"Black-haired creep in a brown coat, with that stupid pink umbrella, right?", Fox asked.

"Where did she go?", Velvet pressed.

Coco nodded toward an intersection down the road.

"Took a right there, still running. But-"

Velvet, without saying another word, took off toward the intersection. The rest of the team had no choice but to follow.

"So, what the hell happened in there?", Coco asked.

"We were paying and getting ready to leave. She knocked on the door, and practically kicked the thing off its hinges when the lady shopkeeper checked who it was.", Velvet started.

"It was weird. She demanded a specific order. It was a new sword she'd ordered.", Yuki commented.

"She…? Stole her own sword by basically robbing the place? What the hell?", Fox asked, baffled.

"Yeah. Didn't look like she was short on money or anything, either. Didn't demand any lien, just the sword.", Velvet added

When team Coffee reached the intersection, Velvet was the first to realize what was happening.

"Guys! She's on the number 50 tram!"

Yuki looked, and saw the familiar sunglasses and coat.

"Arrogant idiot. Didn't even change disguises."

"Number 50 goes to the plaza, right? Doesn't 32 go there too?", Coco asked.

Number 32 streetcar was just opening its door, sitting at the stop. The team rushed to the stop, and Coco had to put her purse between the closing doors to force them to reopen. Ignoring the looks of annoyance and amusement, all of team Coffee focused their attention on the number 50, now barely in view. Yuki couldn't help noticing that people were still staring. Young people were seen my many as inconsiderate and obnoxious. Hunters were seen as arrogant, as if they were above everyone else. To the shame of every decent hunter out risking their lives to protect the public, the reputation wasn't entirely undeserved. Some hunters genuinely felt that being able to defeat the biggest threat facing mankind made them better than the rest. The claim was obviously bullcrap, for many, many reasons. For one, hunters were only one group of soldiers defending people against the grimm.

"That's her, right?", Velvet asked.

Yuki looked at the stop ahead. The familiar brown coat was making its way across one of the city's main roads.

"Keep eyes on. She's easy to lose like this.", was Yuki's reply.

The woman had walked for a while. She's taken an unnecessarily convoluted path, turning back on herself more than once. Eventually, she'd headed into the crowd at the passenger terminal of Vale city harbor.

"She's pretty good.", Fox commented.

"She'd pretty damn paranoid is what she is.", Yuki replied. "Why the hell would a thief do this?"

Velvet sighed.

"Maybe the same reason she left that note."

Coco raised her eyebrow.

"What note?"

"Let take a look at it later.", Yuki sighed.

"That's granite, not asphalt. She's going in to the terminal. After her.", Velvet urged, coming back from the intense moment of concentration.

The robber's stiletto heels were turning into her undoing. The click of the heel against metal, asphalt or stone was distinct enough to recognize in a crowd, and high-pitched enough to locate.

Yuki sighed heavily, jogging alongside Velvet.

"This is just perfect.", the Atlesian sighed. "Lots of people. Lots of noise."

"I can do it.", Velvet declared, her voice suddenly stone cold.

The woman had gone to a set of lockers and picked up a suitcase. At first, it had looked like that was all she'd been there to do. After walking in circles some more, the woman had gone upstairs and was now at a ship boarding gate. Team Coffee was one floor below, looking up at the area. Yuki noticed Velvet seemingly spacing out.

"Hey, Velvet, are you okay?", the redhead asked.

"I'm fine."

"Fine, my ass. Please, this is your team. At least be honest with them, if not me."

"It was just a death threat from a random violent thug. I'm a huntress. We deal with crap like this all the time."

"A… what?", Yuki gasped.

"What?", Coco demanded.

"The note. I had time to read it."

Yuki's face went from neutral to horrified to annoyed in less than a second. The redhead picked up the note and quickly read it. The hardened cadet's blood ran cold.

"This is my fault. My fucking fault. I shouldn't have confronted her.", Yuki cursed.

"No, it's not. Don't do this to yourself. She'd have taken my head off if you hadn't warned me. I had no idea she'd seen us.", Velvet challenged.

"I'm still the idiot who called you by name.", Yuki replied coldly.

_Besides, you were already moving when I 'warned' you. It was pointless._

The Atlesian could feel Coco's eyes on her. Teammate, friend, girlfriend? Their dynamic was still a mystery to Yuki. One thing was obvious, though. Coco cared about Velvet. Coco cared about Velvet a lot.

"So. Death threat?", Coco asked.

The fashionista's voice was unnaturally monotone. Without saying a word, Yuki took one more look at the note, then handed it to Coco.

You and your friend tried to be heroes here. You know what all great heroes in history have in common? They all die fighting for what they believe in.

They all die, Velvet.

Coco stared at the note, speechless.

"When did she-?", the fashionista stammered.

"If she's as fast with a pen as she is with a sword, throwing the old sword at me was all the time she needed.", Yuki spat.

_And she could have killed Vel in that time. She's toying with us._

"So, Velvet is-"

Yuki cut Coco off.

"I'll make this right. I'll go after her. I'll stop her."

"Go after her? How? There's too many people around.", Velvet asked, concern showing in her voice.

"I'm not going to do anything here. I've endangered enough lives for one day. I'll follow her, and when she's by herself… Well, I hope an old dog can learn new tricks because that bi-"

"You're crazy. You don't even have your things.", Velvet protested.

"Doing favors for people pays surprisingly well. A toothbrush and some clothes cost less than a few hours of 'unpaid' security work gets you.", the redhead declared.

Yuki could see the robber, now in a white coat, stepping on the walkway. She was going onboard.

"Thank you for everything. I mean it. In exchange, I'll make sure you don't get killed by seedy underworld types."

The Atlesian's farewell was rushed and delivered in anger through gritted teeth. Before anyone had time to reply, Yuki was running up the stairs to the embarkation area.

"Yuki, wait!"

The redhead barely heard Coco's words. Only moments later, Yuki was on the walkway, standing in a crowd of people a fair distance from the robber. It seemed smart to stay out of sight and follow the woman.


	9. Meltdown

The woman had roamed around the ship for a while before going to one of the lower decks. She was on one of the many corridors, opening a door to what had to be her cabin. Yuki, watching from the stairs at the end of corridor, already had the ship company's ordering page open on the scroll. It took a couple of minutes, but all the information was soon filled, and all that was left was the voucher code from Professor Lionheart's present.

"I must say, that was uncalled for. Didn't even talk your team through the plan."

The voice was quiet but familiar. Yuki turned around.

"What the f-"

Fox Alistair gave Yuki a pointed look.

"Might want to keep quiet. She's not expecting to see you ever again, but she could still recognize your voice."

Yuki gave Fox a furious stare.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Fox looked around to make sure the two hunters were alone before speaking.

"I'm not going to sit on my arse and watch you get yourself killed for no reason. We've worked together for less than three months, but you're a part of the team now. Besides, do you think Velvet would ever forgive herself if we got word that you got thrown in the ocean trying to confront this maniac?"

Yuki tried to argue but couldn't think of anything to say.

"Thought so. You didn't think this through. Any of it."

Fox shook his head. Yuki was about to protest but Fox cut him off.

"I have a couple of messages to send. Give me a moment."

Yuki watched Fox write a message, when an obvious question surfaced.

"I know how I got on board, but… No offense, but subtlety isn't your game. How did you get on this ship?"

Fox smirked.

"The Adele Design Corporation sends their regards. Or at least the heir does. We have an expenses card for the whole team. Apparently, Mrs. Adele doesn't want her daughter to be seen with questionable characters. Poor-looking, that is."

Yuki stared at the conversation on Fox's screen, scowling.

"You're joking, right?"

"I wish. That's what Coco's mom told her. We're expected to keep our clothes, weapons and uniforms pristine, so as to not tarnish the Adele name."

Yuki's face was turning from exasperated to furious.

"Does this appearances budget include a hood or hat for a certain teammate of yours, perchance?"

"That's right… You and elitist pricks don't really mix, do you? Don't worry, she seems to look down on everyone equally.", Fox commented sarcastically.

"We mix just fine. You'll just have to purée them fine enough.", Yuki replied. There wasn't a hint of humor in the Atlesian's voice.

"O-kay then. Moving on. Coco will have someone make a couple of phone calls. She'll come up with some bs excuse and move our reservation to this deck."

Fox dropped his tonfas on the bed.

"So, you didn't happen to plant a secret Atlesian tracking device on her clothes in the shop, did you?", Fox asked.

"Sure, it was right next to the shrink ray.", Yuki replied sarcastically.

"Hey, no need for the sass.", Fox laughed nervously.

"I seem to have a need for all the sass. You keep assuming I'm some super spy just because I'm Atlesian.", Yuki commented dryly.

"You just seem to have the answer to everything."

Yuki burst into dry laughter. The scroll the redhead was holding fell on the bed. After a fair amount of cackling, the Atlesian turned to Fox.

"Bullshit. Complete and utter bullshit. Two shopkeepers almost died a few months ago because of me. Your teammate is in danger because of me. SDC guards ended up in the hospital because I lost my temper. Alex lost-"

Yuki stopped suddenly.

"Forget I said anything. Please, forget I said anything."

Fox watched Yuki, concerned.

"Mate, snap out of it. Seriously, you've saved people. We're not perfect. We can't save everyone."

"Tell that to Coco. I put her girlfriend in danger.", Yuki spat.

Fox laughed.

"Girlfriend? They may be sleeping together, but it's not romantic."

Yuki stared at Fox, eyebrow raised.

"Thanks for making sure I know something that private. I really needed another reason for Coco to mow me down."

Fox walked up to Yuki and put a hand on the redhead's shoulder. He looked his partner directly in the eye.

"Seriously. Snap out of it. Coco's horrified that this happened, but she's not blaming you."

"But-"

"She's not. You should've seen how Velvet reacted when you just left. We need the Y in C.F.V.Y. Yatsu may return one day, but right now, we need you."

"Wow, way to sell it, partner.", Yuki laughed wryly.

Yuki took a good look at Fox, whose hand was still on the redhead's shoulder.

"How did they let you go?"

"Hmm?"

"How did Coco and Velvet just let you run after me? You're alone with no equipment, no clothes, and no idea what you're up against. It's three days to Vytal and a freaking week to Argus."

Fox gave Yuki a pointed look.

"You're the one alone with nothing. I wanted to at least give you backup… and a real budget for this little cruise.", Fox replied, patting his wallet with his free hand.

"You didn't answer the question.", Yuki deadpanned.

Fox shook his head.

"Idiot."

"What was that?", Yuki challenged.

"I called you an idiot, because you're acting like one. It's been less than five months. How many times do you think you've saved one of us during that time?"

"I don't keep count."

"Neither do I. I still know it's more than once. We couldn't live with ourselves if you got killed saving one of us."

"Got killed fixing my own mistake, you mean."

"Oh, for fuck's sake! People actually like you and care about you, idiot!"

Fox pulled Yuki close by the shoulder, and hugged his teammate.

"You're not alone. You don't need to be alone. It's fine to ask for backup."

Yuki couldn't think of a reply. Yuki couldn't think. After a few moments of awkward silence, Fox stepped back.

"S- sorry. Too much?"

Yuki didn't reply. Was it too much? What was _it_, anyway?

Trying to process what had happened, the redhead idly picked up the scroll still sitting on the bed. The device's screen was still on.

"Crap."

Fox hesitantly turned to Yuki but didn't step closer, clearly wanting to give the Atlesian some space.

"What?"

"I almost forgot. We should get moving."

On Yuki's scroll, there was a video playing. A woman walked out of what looked like one of the sleeper car's cabins. Her hair was, in a word, weird. Half of it was brown, the other half pink with a silver streak. She was wearing a white blouse, a gray skirt, and white knee-high boots. The most curious thing were her eyes. One was pink, the other brown. She was carrying a familiar pink parasol.

"What's going on?"

"It's a video call. My watch is down the hall, pointing at our murderous thief's cabin door. I hid it behind a fire extinguisher. Her appearance is totally different off-duty, apparently.", Yuki explained.

"What was that you said about not being a super spy?", Fox laughed.

The Atlesian responded with an eye roll.

"Are we going to sit here or follow her?"

"Depends. Do you still think you're responsible for everything bad that's ever happened on Remnant?", Fox asked sternly.

"I…"

Yuki couldn't stop thinking about what had just happened. Has Fox hugged the redhead just as a teammate or…?

"Let's go. We need to see if she meets up with someone.", the Atlesian continued.

And I need time to think.

The thief was ordering something in one the few restaurants on board. Yuki and Fox were standing a fair distance away, seemingly looking at a bar's price list. Having seen the parasol, Yuki had put the staff and pistol, along with more normal things like a wallet, in a gray messenger bag the duo had grabbed from the shop on board.

"I don't feel great doing this with nothing on me."

"Like I said earlier, sorry, don't have a shrink ray. She'll spot our weapons from a mile away if we carry them normally. I rushed into this without a plan. Again."

"Yuki."

Fox stopped and looked the redhead in the eye.

"I get that the day has been fucking awful. I get that you're feeling like shit. But please, stop beating yourself up. I can't listen to you self-destruct like this."

The redhead wordlessly stared at Fox for a moment before speaking up.

"Fine. Then don't. Go back. Go back to the cabin. I'll deal with her. I didn't ask you to be here in the first place."

Fox audibly gasped.

"Bu-"

"Go!", Yuki hissed. "I have a job to do, and you're distracting me."

"Is that-"

"Get out of here, now!"

Fox was turning to leave but stopped when he heard a passenger walk away from the bar with a drink, happily chatting with someone.

"The pistol.", Fox whispered.

"What?", Yuki whispered back in an enraged hiss.

"Give it to me. One, I can't carry my own gear with her around. Two, I don't want you blowing your brains out in a moment of drunken self-pity. Or worse, gunning her down in packed restaurant. Something happened to you today. We've never seen you like this. You're… not yourself."

"What the f-"

"Just do it. You have your staff, and the ship has security. If you're just planning to watch her, it's fine. She only has a sword, right?", Fox pointed out.

The Atlesian decided to let the accusation slide.

"We only saw a sword.", Yuki hissed between gritted teeth.

"You still have a staff. And security.", Fox concluded in a demanding tone.

Yuki opened the messenger bag and retreated into a dark corner between a staircase and some kind of a crew-only maintenance area.

"Legal or not, this looks just a tiny bit suspicious, so…", Yuki concluded coldly.

"Not around the drunks. Got it. You have the holster?"

"Obviously. We're similar enough in size the belt should fit you fine if shit goes down. But then again, you've clearly checked me out enough to know that. Put a scratch on the holster, though, and I'll put a scratch on you."

"Yuki… Who the fuck are you?"

"Just another hunter. Just another pissed-off hunter. Get out of here, now."

"Got it. Oh, and one more thing. You seemed to know my size too. Just saying."

Yuki didn't have time to respond. Fox was on his way back to the cabin.

The redhead looked around. The robber was having lunch.

_What am I doing here? She could be on her way to another continent. That note was just an empty threat. Now I'm stuck here, just wasting Coco's money. I was just going to take 'Leo's' advice, follow her to Argus, and disappear. If she's really off to Anima, she's not going to go back to Vale for one huntress._

The conversation with Fox came back to Yuki's mind. His hand on the redhead's shoulder. The hug that lasted a few seconds too long.

He's an idiot. Why the fuck is he doing that now? Or am I reading too much into it?

The Atlesian's stomach growled.

Velvet and I never did get those sandwiches.

Glancing over to the robber casually eating some kind of a hamburger, Yuki walked to the order counter.

"Evening. Could I have the fish fillet with mashed potatoes. Oh, and a beer."

Yuki had managed to find a quiet corner of the restaurant to watch the young woman from. She was sitting by a window but facing away from it. She'd gone and gotten herself an ice cream after finishing a hamburger, and was now slowly eating it. Yuki was running out of the chocolate cake meant to outlast the thief's dessert, and the third cherry liqueur was almost gone.

Dammit. She likes to people-watch.

The woman was relaxed but constantly looking around, no doubt memorizing the faces. The ship carried far more cargo than passengers, so everyone wanting to get dinner would have to come to the one and only restaurant area. She'd picked the perfect way to get an idea of who was on board. Any hunter would have been spotted three hours into the three-day voyage.

Would be great to know if she's alone or going to meet someone here.

Yuki's scroll lit up. It was a message from Fox.

You're already pissed, so I figured I should do everything crazy now, instead of spreading it out.

There were photos attached to the message. At first Yuki thought Fox was sending photos of their cabin, but the bunk beds were on the wrong side of it. Then the brown coat laying on the bed caught the hunter's eye.

He didn't.

The next picture showed a paper receipt. It had the ship company's logo on it, and listed an amount paid in cash, and the customer's name. The amount was familiar.

Of course she paid cash.

An electronic order would've been easy to trace back to the scroll it was made from.

At least we know where she's going now… probably. A ticket to Vytal would have cost half that.

The next picture confirmed Yuki's suspicions. The thief had a train ticket from Argus to Mistral, and it seemed to be only a few hours after the ship's scheduled arrival. A detail on the ticket caught Yuki's eye, and made the hunter go back to the previous picture.

Different names on the tickets. She's got multiple ID's on her scroll, or she can somehow change the ID data.

Fox replied quickly.

Pro thief can fake ID's. Shocker. At least we know where she's going.

Yuki wasn't sure if Fox's reply really was snarky or if it just seemed that way.

Get out of there. She's still eating but… You know, killer and all that.

Yuki was almost surprised at the sudden worry for Fox's safety. Fox seemed to get a different idea from the message.

Sure. And hey, feel free to express any gratitude you might have for your teammate. A teammate who just broke goodness knows how many laws to get this info.

The redhead's first instinct was to lash out at Fox, again. Before Yuki could even begin to untangle the mess of emotions the day had been, a more immediate problem appeared. The thief was getting up.

She's leaving. Get out.

Yuki wolfed down the last of the dessert and gulped what was left of the drink in one swig. The Atlesian then got up slowly and followed the robber.

Yuki got back to the cabin to find Fox already there.

"So, you made it out in time.", Yuki observed.

"I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be alive if I hadn't. I have some skill, you know."

Yuki sighed.

"Can we… not?"

Fox looked at Yuki, unsure of what to do or say.

"I've been… Literally, certifiably insane today. What I've done hasn't made any logical sense. You're right, this isn't me.", Yuki explained.

Fox simply stared at the redhead.

"I… Years ago, I swore I wouldn't let another teammate or fried get hurt ever again, no matter the cost.", the Atlesian continued.

Fox couldn't keep quiet.

"Our job is to fight."

Each of Yuki's fists clenched into a ball.

"I know. Trust me, I fucking know. I'm just so very fucking tired of seeing people around me get hurt. Ilia, Alex, now Velvet… I couldn't do anything.", Yuki explained.

"I tried my quote-unquote 'best' and that didn't do shit!", the redhead suddenly screamed, slamming both fists on the bed.

"Do you… want to talk about it? I'd love to hear more about these people. Not what happened to them, but who they are."

Yuki stared at Fox.

"Are you my teammate or my therapist?", the redhead snarled.

"Remember that movie night the day we met?", Fox asked.

"It's been months, not years."

Fox sighed.

"Sure. Anyway, you're the one who said hunter teams grow close. Really close. We'd do anything for our teammates. No shit it hurts to see people this close to you suffer."

"Yeah, well… That same night, remember when I woke up in the middle of the night?"

"I think I remember it, yeah.", Fox replied.

"It was… I wish I could tell you it was a nightmare, but it was a flashback. All the details. I remember the heat of the explosion. I remember this terrified tone of voice Ironwood had after it happened."

"Ironwood? As in, your headmaster, general Ironwood?"

Yuki sat down on the bed before replying.

"The one and only. I'm pretty sure he'd be dead without Alex's quick thinking. And Alex…"

Yuki stopped. The Atlesian was somewhere between gagging and sobbing.

"I still remember the piece of metal embedded in Alex's eye. Ironwood's arm was probably more life-threatening but it's that eye I can't get out of my head. I… can't take another scene like that. I can't watch another friend get hurt. I'll protect them or die trying. Not because of some noble destiny or shit, but because I can't go in living with these images in my head. They go away… and then they come back. I can't take any more of that."

Fox was speechless. After recovering from the initial shock, he stepped closer to the bed.

"Mind if I sit down?"

"It's not like I own the bed."

"Ha. Okay, sure."

Fox sat down next to Yuki. The huntsman noticed something right away.

"Yuki… I have to ask… Did you actually get anything to eat?"

"Of course. Be warned, their mashed potatoes are not the greatest and the fish is dry. Chocolate cake is decent, though.", the redhead replied in a joking tone. "Why are you making it sound like that's an awkward question or something?"

"How much did you drink?"

Yuki stared at Fox.

"Just a beer and a liqueur. Well, a couple. No, I didn't just down ten drinks instead of eating. Because that's what you were thinking."

"I know you're not that stupid."

Yuki was about to reply.

"Don't even say anything. You're not thinking clearly after what happened at the shop."

"I'm a fucking hunter! It's my literal fucking job to think clearly when something like that happens!", Yuki yelled.

Fox stayed silent for a moment.

"Mate. Dude. We're all human. Or faunus. People. None of us are perfect. Hell, think back to the ancient legends. If you believe in those, even the gods weren't perfect. We work in teams for a reason. It's our job to support each other."

Yuki inhaled, as if readying for an outburst.

"And you did. Velvet isn't hurt. You're not hurt. You may have saved those shopkeepers for the second time.", Fox continued.

"H-How do you even know about that?"

"You don't remember Velvet talking about it on the tram?"

"No, I honestly don't.", Yuki replied, tired and confused.


	10. Stormy Seas

Yuki woke up feeling hazy and ever so slightly nauseated. At first, the hunter was confused by the location of the bed. The bottom bunk was supposed to be Fox's. Only then, the redhead took a closer look at the bed and its surroundings. The bed frame wasn't its usual coarse wood with square edges. It had much more rounded corners. The wood was smoother and felt softer, somehow. The entire bed was narrower. The blanket felt excessively, suffocatingly heavy.

_Oh, right. I'm on the ship._

The previous day flashed by, scene by scene.

_Oh, shit. I'm on the ship._

Yuki didn't know how to feel. The attack. The stupid decision to chase down the robber, all because of a note.

_The note. Velvet._

Yuki looked around. The cabin was dark, but some light was filtering in through the curtains on the small window. The sun was already up.

The gray turtleneck and a pair of copper brown chinos were sitting on a chair at the far end of the cabin, neatly folded. An reddish-orange fleece jacket, a black t-shirt and black pants were hanging on the back of the chair.

_Shit. Fuck._

The redhead got out of bed and picked up the clothes, wearing just a white t-shirt and underwear.

_Did I get in bed myself or did Fox have to literally tuck me in for the night?_

Yuki took an unused glass from the small desk by the window at the end of the cabin. The hunter went into the bathroom and filled the glass using the only faucet in the cabin. The redhead downed one glass of cool water, then another. After filling the glass for the third time, Yuki stepped out. The white jacket was hanging on a clothes hanger by the cabin door. The messenger bag was sitting on the floor, next to the redhead's combat boots.

_Did I give to note to Coco? Did she just look at it and give it back?_

Yuki sipped the water, put the glass on the desk, and searched the pockets of the jacket. None of them had anything in them, even a wallet.

_That's right. I had my wallet in the bag._

Going through the bag produced the wallet, the staff and its sheath, and a water bottle. Noticing the pistol was missing, the hunter remembered the argument from the previous night.

_I'm an asshole. Yeah, I was pissed but Fox had nothing to do with it. Did I even apologize last night?_

The slight headache started to flare up as the Atlesian grew more stressed.

_Why does this have to be so freaking complicated?_

Secretly, Yuki was glad the note wasn't there. It would've been a constant reminder of what started the whole fiasco in the first place. Of more practical importance was finding the pistol. Yuki had every reason to trust Fox. Still, to most hunters, being separated from one their weapons was equal to having one their arms cut off.

_Cue Wattana making a joke about being disarmed. I kinda miss those guys._

The Atlesian started going through the cabinets and drawers. The first cabinet, on the right side of the desk, had a familiar handgun on the top shelf. The holster and belt were on the bottom shelf.

_Great minds think alike, I guess._

After picking up the belt, Yuki checked the magazine pouches. All four magazines were still in the pouches, and a quick check showed each one was still full. The redhead dropped the belt on the bed and picked up the pistol. With a push of a button, the magazine dropped on Yuki's palm. It, too, was still full. Just to be safe, the hunter pulled the slide back. The chamber was empty, and the pistol was in flawless condition. Well, as flawless as it could be in the middle of the war against Grimm.

_Looks like he took my threat seriously. The stupid, pointless fucking threat I made just because I needed something to be angry at._

The hunter packed the belt and the pistol in the messenger bag. It was a new day, but the challenges were mostly the same. Seeing how Yuki and Fox were now stuck on the boat with the robber, they could just as well keep an eye on her. At the same time, the morning brought to light new things.

_I need a toothbrush. Should've bought one yesterday._

The redhead left the cabin. On pure instinct, Yuki checked that the cabin key card was still in the left pants pocket. That's when one more thing became apparent.

_My watch._

Instead of heading right toward the nearest stairs, Yuki went left. It took a few steps before Yuki could see the watch, even knowing exactly where it was. Discreetly retrieving it was easy, and it was in the hunter's pocket in a few seconds. To seem more natural, the Atlesian kept walking toward the ship's bow. The corridor was empty, but unnecessary chances didn't seem like a good idea.

The restaurant and shop deck was surprisingly busy. A constant stream of happy chatter was coming from the restaurants. The hunter took a look at the sun's position, then verified from the world clock near the staircase. Somehow Yuki and Fox both had slept well past their usual time. It was fifteen to eleven when Yuki stepped into the store. The electronics corner of the small convenience store was packed with people excitedly talking to each other. The redhead picked up a pack of two toothbrushes and went to the checkout line. The three other people in the line paid for their things quickly and went on their way.

"Morning. Sure is lively here this morning.", Yuki greeted, the cheerful mood taking hold.

The cashier laughed quietly.

"You almost sound like you haven't heard."

The Atlesian gave the cashier a look of confusion and borderline annoyance.

"Kid, just check your scroll and prepare to have your mind blown. Next customer, please."

Yuki stepped away from the checkout desk and put the toothbrush in the bag. With the bag resting against the right leg, the redhead realized something.

_I didn't bring my freaking scroll. Well, here's my chance to brush my teeth before subjecting the restaurant staff to my breath._

Back in the cabin, Yuki set the watch to charge. Its battery had, of course, been entirely drained streaming video. After washing up, Yuki took a look at the desk and practically face-palmed.

_Brilliant observation skills, cadet._

Both Yuki's and Fox's scrolls were sitting on the desk, more and more light bathing them as the sun approached its highest point on the sky.

Yuki picked up the scroll. Checking for messages seemed pointless, but the Atlesian really had no idea what had happened the night before. Waking the device, the redhead did indeed see a new message notification.

_Why would Fox message me after I fell asleep pretty much next to him?_

Opening the message, the hunter was confused.

**Hey, guys. Are you getting this?**

Trying to scroll the conversation, Yuki realized it wasn't the one with Fox. It was the one with all of team Coffee. And the message was from Velvet, just a couple of hours earlier.

_What?!_

A quick check of the connection settings confirmed it. The scroll was connected to CCT Vale. The Beacon Tower.

"What the hell?", the redhead gasped.

"What's with all the noise?"

Fox peeked down from the top bunk.

"Why do you look like you just found a million lien sitting on a sidewalk?"

Yuki laughed.

"The CCT is online! The freaking CCT is back online! Velvet just sent us a message a couple of hours ago!"

Fox stared at the redhead.

"I'm glad you're feeling more cheerful today."

Yuki looked at Fox, planning to shoot back some light quip. Seeing the huntsman, the Atlesian stopped.

"About yesterday…", the redhead started.

"I… I'm not going to say I agree with everything you did yesterday. Even most of it, honestly. Still, after what you told me, I think I get it. Sort of. I've been through shit myself. I don't necessarily agree with how you're coping, but I get it."

Yuki stared at Fox, trying to see if the brawler was being sincere.

"If you hate me for being selfish, I don't blame you. If you're scared of my shit impulse control, I don't blame you. If you detest me for putting your team, your friends, in danger, I don't blame you. If-"

"You're good at coming up with synonyms for 'dislike'. Got it. I'm not going to tell you to snap out of it. That's not how it works, I know that. Holy hell, do I know that. I'd just love you see you not self-destruct in front of our eyes."

Fox slid off the bunk bed, landing on the floor with a thud. He didn't seem to need aura to take the impact.

"You're scared. That's what this comes down to. Not just scared of losing people in battle, but losing people to… disagreements, differences and judgment. You somehow think you're supposedly inferior and need to be perfect at everything to make up for it.", Fox stated.

"You're still awfully sure you know what's going on inside my head.", Yuki challenged.

"You remember that from last night?"

"I remember everything until your 'We're all human. We all make mistakes.' cliché.", Yuki laughed.

Fox stared at the Atlesian.

"You literally forgot telling me your life story? You don't remember telling me about your childhood friend, Ilia Ami- Ami-something."

"Amitola."

"Yeah, Amitola. And then team Savvy. The flight from Argus where your team probably saved Ironwood's life."

An all-too-familiar image flashed before Yuki's eyes. The hunter made a face of shock and disgust. Fox sighed.

"Zelinsky's face again?"

"How do you remember Alex, but not Ilia?", Yuki questioned.

"You talk about your team every now and then. Your childhood friends, not so much."

"Please tell me I didn't say anything about… About Lapilli…"

Fox raised an eyebrow.

"Nope. Isn't that just some mining town in the far north?", Fox asked, confused. "Just Mantle, Atlas and Ilia."

"Thank fucking goodness.", the Atlesian sighed.

Fox chose not to ask.

Fox was still standing in front of Yuki, shirtless. The redhead couldn't deny Fox was good-looking. The fighter was muscular without being too bulky.

"Remnant to Winterburn.", Fox commented carefully. "I hope you're not thinking about… whatever Lapilli means to you."

Yuki quickly recovered.

"Sorry! I'm not, don't worry. I'm thinking about something much more delicious…"

The redhead glanced at the restaurant's brochure on a holder on the desk.

"Breakfast!"

"Don't say things like that when staring at a shirtless teammate. Someone could get the wrong idea.", Fox laughed.

Dammit. So much for that diversion.

"Speaking of clothes, or lack thereof, please tell me I got in bed on my own."

"I could… but in this business, honesty with your team is everything.", Fox stated dryly, looking at Yuki. "I'm not sure if I should be apologizing for taking my shirt off, or not taking off yours. The blankets are ridiculously hot. I was going to keep mine on anyway but… force of habit I guess."

"Do I look like I care?", Yuki scoffed. "Coco and Velvet don't… seem to believe in shirts when sleeping."

"You certainly don't seem to mind, I don't even need eyes to see that much.", Fox teased.

_I'm not blushing, I'm not blushing, I'm not blushing._

"Aww, you're blushing.", the young man teased.

The redhead stared at Fox, literally slack-jawed.

"Your breathing changes.", Fox explained.

Yuki's thoughts alternated between the many, many ways to get back at Fox, and the monumental task of apologizing for being a giant ass the previous day.

"Looks like we don't have to worry about clothes and all that anymore.", Fox commented out of nowhere.

"What do you mean?"

"Coco and Velvet are flying to Mistral. They talked to Goodwitch after I sent them our video of the robber. Apparently, she's wanted in at least two kingdoms, and has terrifyingly good connections. If we can talk to Coco, the robber can talk to her 'business partners' in Vale. Classes at Beacon won't start for months so Goodwitch suggested Velvet go find a safe place outside of Vale. The kingdom, not just the city."

"What the- Who the hell are we dealing with? Torchwick 2.0?"

"Actually, that's exactly it.", Fox sighed in frustration. "Goodwitch told Coco that this woman was Roman Torchwick's right hand for years."

Yuki shuddered.

"Didn't Torchwick… die that day? Is this woman going to be more, or less dangerous now?"

"Good bloody question, mate. Good bloody question."

"On a more practical note, isn't this costing Coco a fortune?"

Fox went quiet

"Coco… ended up telling her mother what happened. She's sending the company plane to Beacon. She's working in Mistral and wants Coco and Velvet to come there. They're taking the long way, via Vytal and Argus, apparently.

"Did… did we just get incredibly lucky or completely screwed?", Yuki asked.

"Completely bloody screwed, with Miss Parasol on her way to Mistral." Fox suddenly snarled. "Mrs. Adel is basically forcing Coco and Velvet right into danger. Having our clothes isn't much of a silver lining against that."

"Shit."

"Tell me about it."

Yuki was eating a pasta salad, watching a familiar figure sitting in a familiar spot by the window.

"Can't be a coincidence. She avoided the lunch rush.", Fox commented.

"Doesn't want to be seen enough to be memorized, I bet.", Yuki speculated.

"With that hair?", Fox laughed, looking at the woman's multicolored hair.

Yuki stayed quiet for a moment.

"Okay, maybe she just doesn't like crowds."

"That, or she doesn't want to be disturbed eating that massive plate of food."

Yuki looked at the mountain of mashed potatoes and fish in front of Fox.

"You may have a point. These portions are… generous."

"Yeah… That's one word for it.", Fox commented, amused. "I'm surprised you didn't mention this yesterday."

Yuki laughed quietly.

"I… may have been a tiny bit hungry after all the fighting, running and shadowing. How the hell did you not pass out from hunger last night?"

"Velvet and I got sandwiches while Coco was making the reservation.", Fox explained. "I couldn't have handled something this huge just a few hours later."

"Neither can she.", Yuki observed, looking at the robber. "She's barely gotten started with the meal."

Fox looked at a clock in the wall.

"She's people-watching. And we're sitting here, being watched. We know she's going to Mistral. Do we really need to see her every move? If she recognizes you…"

"True. Having the same two people hover near her at every meal is going to get suspicious. I really don't want a fight."

Fox gave Yuki a look.

"That's definitely not what you said yesterday.", Fox laughed wryly.

"Can we just… not unpack that now? I was… a lot of things yesterday. 'Irrationally angry' is pretty high on that list.", the redhead replied.

"Sorry. Didn't mean it like that."

It became clear very quickly that the robber preferred to keep to herself. After her lunch, she'd gone back to the cabin, and hadn't left once. Yuki and Fox spent the afternoon talking to Coco and Velvet, getting to know Vytal – just in case – and making plans. It was becoming obvious that their target wasn't worth following. She could handle all her communication on her scroll, from the privacy of the cabin. To compensate for the generous meal portions, Fox and Yuki decided to visit the ship's gym. Of course, the whole thing was one small room with an exercise bike, some weights and a punching bag. The hunters decided to focus on general muscle exercise and cardio. Any boxing would have given them away as trained fighters to the people periodically walking in.

"…fifty-seven. There's only one door. What are you going to do if she shows up?", Fox asked, trying to keep ahead of Yuki in push-ups.

"…fifty-two, fifty-three. Hide in a corner. Walk out as quickly as I can. Four. Improvise.", Yuki suggested. "Fifty-five. She's a wanted criminal. Six. If she can get a good look at me here, anyone can get a good look at her. Seven. Doesn't look like she's the type to risk it. Eight."

"…sixty. Makes sense. You're probably right. Also, I just beat you."

"…sixty. You distracted me. I'll reclaim my title tomorrow.", Yuki challenged in an over-dramatic tone.

"Looking forward to seeing you try.", Fox teased. "Day one goes to me. Let's see what the score looks like when we get to Argus.

Yuki got up slowly.

"Fox…"

Fox looked at the Atlesian, worried.

"What is it?"

Yuki was walking to the gym door.

"The CCT is online. The real story of what happened in Vale is reaching the word. Yatsuhashi and his family will see the news. For all I know, you guys are already talking to him. Team Coffee will be back together soon. My job here is done, right?"

The redhead opened the door and stepped out without looking at Fox.

"Are you fucking kidding me?! Yuki, get back here, we need to talk!", Fox shouted as the door swung shut.

Yuki, despite having planned to use a shower as an excuse to not see Fox, was still looking for a towel when the huntsman walked in.

"Yuki."

"Yes?", Yuki asked in a monotone voice.

"Don't fucking 'yes?' me! What the hell is going on? You seemed stable back in Vale. What happened?"

"Stable?"

Fox's eyes grew wide. He gulped, clearly thinking of a way to deescalate the argument.

"Oh, right. You thought I'd blow my brains out yesterday. Your exact words. I'm surprised you feel safe enough to be in the same room with me, seeing how I might snap and go on a spree at any moment. That's what you're thinking, right?", Yuki pressed.

Fox went from apologetic to furious in a blink of an eye.

"Yuki! For fuck's sake!"

The brawler took a deep breath before continuing.

"I have no idea what you'd do, what you're capable of, or who the hell you are! Who the hell just hops on a boat to another continent like that? Like this."

"As dumb as that is, I'd say following someone that reckless is ten times worse!", Yuki shot back.

"Oh, I'm not finished. I thought we could trust you when you said you're doing this for Velvet. I wanted to help because you're trying to save someone I care about. Now you're planning to jump ship when we hear Velvet is actually, genuinely in danger? You're not that much of a fucking coward, Winterburn. You're better than that."

"How would you know? You just said you don't know the first thing about me. Besides, do you really think Roman fucking Torchwick's right hand woman is going to waste time on a huntress in training? Torchwick was always on the news for cons and mind games. She's doing what Torchwick did. Messing with Velvet's head using empty threats. For all we know, she'll never set foot on Sanus again."

"Really? Are you sure? Do you swear on your life? Because if Velvet, who you apparently don't give a shit about, gets hurt… I'll find you, and I will kill you."

"I'll save you the trip. If Velvet gets hurt because of me, I'll kill myself. News flash, I really don't want her to get hurt."

Fox gave Yuki a look of disgust.

"Oh, that's right. Nothing matters but you. You've lost so much. You've seen friends suffer. And what have you done? You've run! You've run every single time! You're not worried about them, you're worried about yourself and nothing more!"

The redhead's face wasn't one of anger. It was melting into one of pain.

"You're fucking right I'm worried about myself. Must be nice living in a world where you're surrounded by actual decent people. Some of us don't have that luxury.", Yuki spat.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?", Fox challenged.

"Do you think it's a coincidence my best friend for years was a faunus? Since my parents got killed, right in front of my eyes, by the way…"

Yuki inhaled sharply, trying to keep from breaking down.

"…I've been an outsider. People made sure I couldn't go to school in my hometown. Even in Mantle, I had to be on my toes all day, every day, blending into the crowds. I only caught I break when I got into Atlas Academy and moved to the capital."

Yuki was struggling to speak, barely holding back tears.

"That, by the way, only happened because I'd gotten so good at holding my own against the real monsters in Mantle. The rich assholes of Mantle elite, who'd still recognize me, and have their gorillas rough me up so I'd 'come to my senses'."

This time, Fox didn't have a comeback. He was on his scroll, a furious expression accompanying aggressive typing.

"I… That was one hell of a sob story, Winterburn. I'm sure I'll find out more online. Right?", he challenged.

"Twelve years ago. Spring. In Lapilli, like I said earlier. You're going to find a different last name, though."

Fox shot Yuki a death glare before getting back to typing. The redhead stepped into the shower without another word.

The hot water managed to relax Yuki a little. Adrenaline was still pumping through the Atlesian's veins, but the soothing sound of water gave the hunter something to focus on. The privacy of the shower allowed for time to think. The absence of speech and noise offered perspective. There was only one conclusion the redhead could draw.

_Fuck! Fuck! Goddamn fucking hell! Nice going, Yuki! Way to ruin a partnership in ten short minutes._

The floor rattled as the ship's engines picked up, and the redhead was reminded of another unfortunate fact.

_I'm stuck here with him for another two days. Or he's stuck with me._

Yuki finished the shower, not caring that it had taken forever, and stepped out. Fox was waiting right outside wearing a bathrobe. He didn't look at Yuki, just walked past.

"Do you know how disabled children are treated in remote villages?", he asked.

His voice wasn't angry. It was… tired. Without saying another word, the huntsman went into the bathroom and locked the door.

Yuki sat on the bed. The pants, t-shirt and turtleneck were in a heap on the bed, underwear hidden somewhere in the mess. The redhead looked around.

_That's right. No spare clothes, because of course this can still worse._

Looking around, irrationally hoping to spot a spare set of clothing, Yuki noticed Fox's scroll on the desk. It was unlocked, its screen on. The text-to-speech app was flanked by an old news article.

**Mayor Akiyama and husband found dead. Lapilli's controversial mayor and her husband, doctor U. Akiyama of Lapilli University, were found dead earlier today in a residential area outside of the city proper. What the mayoral couple was doing at the time of the brutal attack is not yet known.**

Yuki's blood was boiling, and hot tears of rage streamed down the Atlesian's face.

_Lies, fucking lies._

**The police have pointed out that the area is a known hotspot for the city's less fortunate, as well as a recruitment hot spot for the terrorist group White Fang.**

"Assholes! That wasn't a mugging, it was a political fucking assassination! 'Less fortunate', my ass! Maybe treat the faunus like people and terrorism might not look like such a great career path!"

Other articles open on the device discussed the case and its motives. Some daring journalists, mostly those not from Atlas, had pointed out the oddity of the vocally pro-faunus mayoral couple being found dead in a faunus-inhabited part of the city. Others decried the faunus as rabid animals who'd kill even those trying to help them. The further south along the continent the news outlet, the more anti-faunus the coverage got.

The redhead hadn't noticed that no sound of running water was coming from the bathroom. The door opened and Fox turned to Yuki.

"One question: were they killed for speaking up against racism?", Fox asked.

"Not that simple. Extremists. Some faunus thought it was a trick to 'domesticate' them. Their words, not mine. Some splinter group decided they'd had enough of human schemes.", Yuki replied in a hollow, tired voice.

Fox only sighed deeply and closed the door. The sound of running water echoed from the bathroom moments later.

Yuki, instead of worrying about clothing, lay down on the bed in the bath robe. The redhead thought about seeing if new stories or articles had appeared discussing the events of that day.

_Then again, if I'm determined to torture myself…_

Instead of digging into the family's past, Yuki decided to look into a different, if equally depressing, historical subject. A simple query soon appeared on the redhead's scroll.

**Treatment of disabled people outside kingdoms**

Yuki didn't notice Fox coming out of the shower.

"I think I'm going to get some sleep now. Don't… get too carried away with that research.", Fox said, looking over Yuki's shoulder.

His voice was softer than Yuki had expected.

"I won't. G'nite, Fox.

"Oyasumi, Akiyama-san."

_One mask shed, just because I needed to vent. Let's hope this doesn't bite me in the __behind._


	11. Common ground

**A/N: You're not imaging it: **_**Unbroken**_** rises from its watery slumber, like a sea grimm smelling fresh blood. I am sorry about how infrequently I'm able to write and release chapters. In truth, ch. 11 was supposed to be more than twice this long but it flowed better as two separate chapters. That means ch. 12 is already written and I have no excuse to take six months to release it. In any case, enjoy. **

* * *

"Winterburn? You awake?"

"Yuki?"

Fox's voice slowly woke up the Atlesian. Yuki looked at Fox but didn't say anything. Neither did Fox, at first

"So…", Fox eventually started.

"Y-yeah?", Yuki replied carefully.

"I'm so sorry for your parents."

"I'm sorry for… how you must have been treated as a kid."

For minutes, Yuki stayed in bed, looking at the wall. Fox went to sit at the desk, not saying anything.

"I'm… broken, I guess.", Yuki suddenly stated.

More silence followed.

"Not really. Not for life.", Fox replied.

It took Yuki a while to formulate a response. Before the redhead had thought of anything to say, Fox continued.

"What you went through… It's horrible. Losing your parents to grimm is one thing, but what happened to you… It's…"

Before Fox could finish, Yuki cut in.

"Casualties of war. Just not the one with the grimm.", the redhead summed. "What you must've gone through… I can see why Velvet respects you so much. You know what it's like. Really know, even though you're a human."

"I think I get why you're here.", Fox observed.

"I think I get why you insisted on coming with me.", Yuki replied

Another long silence followed.

"Fox… I don't expect you to forgive me. I don't expect you to trust me. I'm just putting this out there. I'm sorry. I'll try to do better."

"I think I can forgive you in time, yeah."

"What do you mean?"

"I'd like to think I have an idea of what set you off. What your struggle is. I'm trying to understand, at least. I'm not going to say I'm cool with being raged at, but I… I'm not sure I can blame you."

"You can totally blame me. I was really an asshole."

"It's not like I did much better.", Fox laughed wryly.

Yuki took a deep breath.

"Look, the truth is, I can't promise it won't happen again. I have a short temper and I don't trust people. I work by myself. I live by myself. I drive people away when I feel threatened."

"You got along with your team."

Yuki scoffed.

"I had a working relationship with my team, sure. I trusted their skills, and they trusted mine. Ironwood was kind of a genius. A human, a faunus with two faunus parents, a faunus with an all-human family except for the mother… and then there's me. A shunned human child of pro-faunus humans. As far as anyone knew."

Fox thought for a moment.

"A team of lifelong misfits… Misfits suddenly working together, everyone with something to prove. Why does that sound so familiar?", he pondered sarcastically.

"Something to prove?", Yuki challenged. "We were just… glad to escape racist bs when we were by ourselves."

Fox laughed wryly.

"Sure. That must be the one and only reason. That's why you were one of the best teams of your year."

Yuki chuckled quietly.

"Okay, felt pretty good to beat the racist jerks. Metaphorically on the scoreboards and literally on the arena. They think they're somehow superior… until everyone sees they're not."

"Yeah… The Cardin Winchesters of the world kinda pipe down when they get their asses handed to them by a "wild animal" and a "cripple".

Yuki gulped.

"Umm..."

"Yeah, Cardin's literal words.", Fox confirmed.

"That the kind of shit you'd expect from a Schnee. Well, Jacques or Whitley, at least. Winter is… a hard-ass and a snob, but at least she's not racist. I really hope Weiss Schnee takes after her sister", Yuki sighed.

Fox laughed.

"I've heard this story a few times from Velvet. Every time someone complained about that family. It's the current head of the family, Jacques, who's a real pile of crap. He married into the family for the money and power. His son… just as bad, like you said. Schnee's wife was apparently trying to do some good at first, and the daughters aren't anywhere near as bad as they could be. Hell, Weiss eventually got along fine with Velvet. Mostly, anyway."

"Mostly?", Yuki challenged.

"Weiss was… difficult at first.", Fox started sliding to the edge of his bed. "She got better. She was willing to listen if there was someone to listen to. And Blake Nightshade, her teammate… she was all about speaking out for the faunus, if you know what I mean."

Fox slid off the bed and landed of the floor with a soft thud. Yuki smirked.

_Nightshade? Almost clever. Almost. __And Blake ended up in the same team with Weiss Schnee… Ozpin must have known._

Yuki let out a wry laugh, looking Fox in the eye.

"Yeah, trust me, I know what you mean. My parents, remember? We knew the people willing to talk. We knew the people unwilling to talk. The Schnees, the Ironwoods and the Belladonnas of the world. My parents actually talked to the leaders, and the people willing to work with them diplomatically. The extremists, though...", Yuki sighed.

"Not much sympathy for the violent ones?", Fox asked.

"Honestly… it's not that simple. Not even close.", the redhead stated. "I know how horribly Ilia was treated, what Sam went through, the shit our team faced just because our lead was a faunus… They said it should've been Alex leading us. Alex was the first one to tell them where to stick it."

"Yeah, Team A.S.W.Y. just doesn't work.", Fox joked. "So… What are you saying? No remorse for beating up the bigots?", Fox asked, picking up his t-shirt.

"I'm not saying violence is the answer… But they have the right to defend themselves against a society that wants to see them dead. _We_ have that right.", Yuki stated.

"Couldn't they… go somewhere safer?", Fox asked, sounding genuinely uncertain, fiddling with his shirt.

Yuki gave Fox an icy glare.

"And where the hell is that? They were hunted… like animals. Ilia did probably go back to Menagerie. Sam and Wattana… Sam is a citizen of Atlas, born and raised in the city. Wattana was born in Argus. As much in the kingdom of Atlas as Mistral. Do you think they should live in exile on Menagerie just because other people have something against them?"

Fox's face blanched.

"I- Sorry. That's not… Well, that _is_ what I meant but yeah… it was stupid. Sorry."

Yuki took a deep breath to calm down. Fox took the pause in conversation to put his shirt on.

"Way too personal a question.", Fox warned, looking at Yuki.

"Affter what I _just_ told you? No such thing.", Yuki replied.

"You're passionate about this. Not just someone wanting to do their best to help. Someone up in arms about it. You just said, "_We_ have the right to defend _our_selves.". You're counting yourself as one of them, and if I didn't know better, I'd say you're willing to die for the faunus cause.", Fox observed.

"I didn't hear a question.", the redhead replied dryly.

"This isn't just your parents' fight. You're not even going about it the same way they did. You said neither humans or faunus trust you. Yet, you always stand up for the faunus, unless it's the violent extremists. Why fight? Why fight for the faunus like you're one of them? You could have flipped every living being on Remnant the bird and disappeared. Sounds about what they would've deserved."

Yuki stared at Fox. The brawler, watching his partner's eyes narrow into mere slits, filled with pure rage, was starting to regret asking.

"I hope you're not saying that just because _I_ happen to be human, I shouldn't fight for my friends. For my family. That I don't have the right. That they don't matter and I've betrayed the humans by helping them.", Yuki spoke, the redhead's words filled with venom.

Fox flinched, opening his mouth to explain. Yuki cut him off.

"Why do I fight? Ilia. Ilia Amitola. For a start. My mom. My big sister too. Do I need to go on?", Yuki continued without hesitation or contemplation. "I saw what happened to them. No, it didn't just "happen" to them. What was done to them. Made my blood boil that a person could treat another person like that. And honestly? You're right. Disappearing is what exactly what I'd done up to that point. Ilia is the one who finally convinced me to fight, my way."

Fox laughed tensely, the tension he hadn't realized was there leaving his body.

"Fight your way? And you only oppose the extremists _if _they target civilians. Suddenly I'm imagining you planting bombs on S.D.C. trains. Or maybe White Fang camps."

Yuki let out a dry laugh in turn.

"Not my style. The Fang extremists and the S.D.C. can have their war by themselves for all I care. My sister is the one hellbent on taking down both Jacques Schnee and Adam Taurus. Me, I intervene when someone goes against unarmed civilians."

"So you… You sould like you'd be willing to go pretty far to protect innocents. Does that, well, include pre-emptive strikes against armed groups you know are going to-", Fox carefully asked.

Yuki's laugh drowned out Fox guestion.

"You're asking me if I'd attack, say, government forces. Or corporare 'security'. Basically, if I'd do the same things the Fang does. Or maybe give the Fang a taste of their own medicine."

Yuki looked out the window, smirking at nothing before continuing.

"I'm the "accident" that arms one of your bombs early when you're hauling a load of them to blow up Argus Union Station during the rush hour. I'm the "lit cigar in the trash can" that forces them to evacuate the mine you were planning to collapse on top of rebelling workers. I'm the stupid, idealistic kid that thinks any of these things makes a difference."

"So you've… Saved innocent lives?", Fox asked, putting on his black jeans.

"Saved some, taken others. A lot of Fang grunts are misguided youth who probably didn't deserve it. A lot of Atlas security is just trying to earn a living, brainwashed into thinking they're protecting something that matters. Brainwashed zombies, mindlessly following orders on both sides. And here's me, a teenager driven by half vengeange, half survivors' guilt, pretending I can make a difference. That their deaths are more justified because there may be one or two 'innocent' people mixed in with the racists at Atlas airport. Anyway..." Yuki paused for a moment, tirning back to Fox. "When Ilia left, I went back to hiding. Either I'm lucky or Ilia is scary good, because the only thing anyone's connected to me is the beat-down a few months ago."

Yuki finally got out of bed and headed into the bathroom.

"Does your team know?", Fox asked.

Yuki stopped, one hand resting on the bathroom door handle, and replied without turning around.

"No. I don't need more people scared of me or hating me. The general didn't know when I was admitted to the academy, either. Still doesn't. I wouldn't be getting this second chance if he did."


	12. Interlude - Fallen Snow I

She could hear the shouting all the way to her vantage point. The mansion, built on a hillside, overlooking the ocean, was too easy to monitor. The guards scrambling to respond to something inside opened up at least three weak spots in the mansion's defenses. Sneaking in wouldn't be easy, but then agin, Ronin wouldn't have sent her if the mission was going to be easy. She'd made it absolutely clear getting spotted would not be an option. Not an easy task with a light dusting of snow blanketing the ground. Most of both Sanus and Anima had been free of snow for weeks. Whatever incident was going on inside was hopefully the window she'd need to take out the cargo and disapper before her footprints were noticed.

The young woman crawled forward on the rocky, icy ledge overhanging the wall. Taking a deep breath, she climbed down, hanging on the ledge by her fingertips for a second before dropping down. Despite rolling on hitting the ground, the impact with the frozen ground hurt. She would just have to endure the pain, seeing how she was now out in the open. There were a few rooms on the north side of the building with lights on and no curtains drawn. As unlikely as it was, movement near the wall might be spotted by somebody. The infiltrator ran deeper into the grounds, one hand on her weapon's handle. First seeking cover behind a storage shed, then following the immaculate juniper hedges lining the footpaths near the mansion, she quickly made her way though the garden. It didn't take her long to arrive at another shed of some kind, one with a truck parked in front of it.

Personally, she wouldn't have any lost sleep over dead S.D.C. goons, so taking the car out on the winding mountain road would have been perfect. Might even have looked like an accident. Ronin, however, had shot that plan down. There was a "friendly HVI in the AO", as she'd put it. The reason was obvious. It was well known Weiss Schnee had "returned home" after the attack on Beacon Academy some months prior. Ronin seemed to think Jacques would take his anger and frustration out on Weiss if an obvious attack took place. Losing the cargo had to look like a stupid accident, and apparently driving off the precarious mountain road wasn't an option.

It only took a minute to strip the fuel cell heater wires enough to cause a spark, giving birth to small fire in the trunk. The tinted windows hid the smoke for now, and the fire would burn and melt the wire insulation and upholstery down to nothing. In a minute or two, there would be no evidence of tampering. The car would be hopelessly ablaze the moment the dust in the fuel tank heated up. In any case, she had to be sure. She used another patch of the wintery garden as cover to push closer to the house, and positioned herself between the house and the shed, by a pond of some sort. A circle of three solid stone benches lined the cobblestone-covered ground around the pond. Three stone statues stood by the benches. Perfect. Toppling over a statue would be more than enough distraction to draw any guards away from the doomed truck and its cargo.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise. Stone scraping against stone. She spun around to see the side of one of the benches move.

What the-?

The stone seat on top of the bench wobbled, like it was being pushed out from the inside. Moving closer, sword now drawn, she tried to figure out what was going on.

"Go!"

"But m'lady-"

"Go! I'll use glyphs to disintegrate this tacky bench if I have to! You need to get back inside and make sure they don't suspect anything!"

"Miss Schnee, your safety comes f-"

"Get going _now_! I'd never forgive myself if you were punished for helping me. Neither would my sister."

The voice wavered saying the last part. Weiss Schnee had always felt some mix of respect and fear for her older sister. The man sounded like Klein Sieben, the man who'd practically become Weiss Schnee's personal butler after his previous employer's mysterious disappearance.

Knowing who was down in the secret passage was all well and good, but it did leave one important question unanswered.

What the hell is going on? Why would Weiss Schnee be leaving the house through some tunnel like this?

"Miss Schnee, you need to go! I'm afraid they might… They might hurt you if they catch you!", Klein whispered in a frantic voice.

"Hurt me? According to father, I disgraced the Schnee family name. He disowned me and practically branded me the enemy. I am going to have to assume worse than that.", the – seemingly former – Schnee heiress hissed.

It sounded like Klein gasped. Something big was going on, and it was sudden. Klein Sieben should have been the one man to know, and care, about anything and everything concerning Weiss.

"And now, here I am, escaping his grasp. I'm not sure if father cares if he sees me dead or alive when this is over."

"If Mr. Schnee truly has gone mad with this… vindictive rage-"

What the-? Would he do that to his children?

"Klein! Out! I'm blowing up this bench!", Weiss' exasperated voice called.

"Stay safe, miss. I hope we meet again. I will buy you time to escape, whatever the cost."

"Klein. I will never forget what you've done for me. Everything I have is thanks to you. Find a way to escape my father's clutches. You deserve so much better."

Weiss. you're so, so right.

There were so many questions, and so very few answers. The most pressing, however, was 'how would mansion security, on high alert, respond to an explosion?' The answer seemed to boil down to the fountain being surrounded by security teams in a matter of minutes. She moved closer to the bench, and saw white-gloved hands trying to push on the slab. It seemed like Weiss herself had realized using summons would be too loud. The infiltrator aimed carefully, and gave the loose stone slab a good kick while ms. Schnee was pushing on it. The ice that was holding it captive seemed to break, and the slab slid sideways. The rebel moved around the bench an started pushing the stone from one side. Soon, it slid to the side, allowing a teenager to emerge from beneath. Weiss, however, hadn't even climbed out of the bench stairwell beore the slab fell to the ground with a surprisingly loud thud.

Oh, _sh-_.

The intruder quickly retreated behind the nearest statue, dreading whatever would happen next.

Weiss Schnee was standing in the garden, a focused expression on her face. The white hair was unmistakably Schnee, and the young woman was clearly shorter than Winter. Weiss was wearing all white with a double-breasted jacket and a snow-white skirt. Perfect. Despite what seemed like a hasty escape, she was dressed for the weather, and carried a duffel pack with supplies. The high-heel boots were less than ideal, but this was Weiss Schnee, one of the most promising huntresses-in-training this generation had seen. Ronin would obviously claim that, just out of admiration. Yet, going by everything the paparazzi had managed to dig up during Weiss' time at Beacon, she truly was that good.

"Miss Schnee, freeze! You need to come with me!"

The shadowy figure behind the statue had to fight to suppress a groan. Really? Freeze? A guard had appeared on on of the stone paths. A pistol was barely concealed under his open jacket. Jacques had gone mad. Weiss was in danger. As impossible as it seemed, Weiss was in mortal danger on her own backyard. The intruder used the statue to get behind the guard and make sure he was alone. For the moment, at least. She stepped out and brought her weapon up.

She stepped closer, her footsteps cracking a patch of ice on the path. The noise startled the guard. She did the only thing possible. She lunged forward and extended the blade from her weapon.

"Eyes forward. Eyes forward!", she hissed. "Take off your jacket."

The guard seemed to hesitate, and Hikari was starting to worry the guard would call for backup.

"It's not just a foot-long blade on your neck. There's an eight-inch rifle carbine barrel right behind it."

The guard, almost certainly feeling the blade on the back of his neck now, took his jacket off slowly.

"Pass it to me.", the intruder commanded.

As the guard tried to pass the jacket, she moved quickly and snatched both the guard's scroll and his pistol.

"Tie the jacket over your eyes.", she commanded, stepping back.

The guard hesitated, confused. The rebel racked the pistol's slide.

"Now!"

The guard lifted the jacket in front of his face, then tied the sleeves behind his head. The intruder smirked, grabbed the handcuffs from the guard's belt, and before he realized was happening, his hands were cuffed to the statue behind him.

Weiss looked past the guard, at the black-clad figure. She was about to say something. The rebel, without thinking, shushed the heiress. For no logical reason, Weiss complied. The woman rushed into one of the stone paths, seeking cover between the hedges. She motioned for Weiss to follow her. She middle Schnee sibling was clearly too stunned to actually think, and simply followed.

"What, in the name of the gods, are you doing sneaking around this garden? Who are you? Do I want to know?", Weiss quietly pressed as the duo pushed through the garden.

The intruder flipped the question on her unexpected ally.

"Wh- What the hell is going on here, Weiss? Why are you running from your own guards?"

The Schnee gave the intruder an astonished look.

Oh, dear. I probably shouldn't have addressed her so informally.

A thick plume of smoke rose from the garden. The rebel broke into a run.

"I'll be more than happy to explain if we make it out of here."

"We?", Weiss questioned.

"I could just leave you here to deal with your father if you'd prefer."

She would never leave Weiss behind, but the fire would be reaching the car's fuel tank any moment, and Weiss obviously needed some encouragement to work with her. They needed to get some more distance to the shed, fast. Weiss seemed to feel that any help was better than none, and followed wordlessly.

As if on cue, the fire finally reached the truck's fuel tank. Instead of the intense but localized inferno the saboteur had expected, she now watched a fireball as tall as the mansion shoot up from the vicinity of the shed. The heat wave washed over them. Weiss, fighting to suppress a scream, threw herself to the ground. The rebel followed. Watching the flames very slowly subside, she watched sparks fly off them.

"Now I see why this was to important. That bastard.", she hissed, enraged.

"What- What on Remnant was that? What are you doing here, exactly?", Weiss whispered, looking the black-clad woman in the eye. The ex-heiress was now reaching for her weapon.

"The crate was marked 'mining explosives'. That fire looks like some mix of fire dust and thermite. It doesn't just burn incredibly hot. It's enough to consume all the oxygen in a huge area.", the rebel explained.

"What?", Weiss practically squeaked.

"Imagine what would happen if those were lit deep underground, in place of mining explosives.", she said, her voice dark, eyes narrowing.

She watched Weiss' eyes grow wide, then squint into a wrathful glare.

"The strike and demonstrations last week.", Weiss surmised.

"Not the first time he's used thermite, then?", the saboteur hissed, enraged at what Jacques had tried to do.

"Not the first time he's tried."

They had to leave quickly, just in case the man decided to silence all witnesses to his latest crime.

Basically following her own fading footsteps, she led Weiss to the ledge she'd used to gain entry.

"My footsteps haven't faded. They'll find the guard and the bench soon. They'll track us here. Sorry about him, by the way. I wasn't planning on hurting anyone here."

"_Here?_", Weiss asked, raising an eyebrow.

"When your father pulls stunts like these, threatens dozens of lives, we do what we have to to stop it. When the Fang plots an attack against dozens of civilians, we do what's necessary.", the rebel stated plainly.

"Okay. Tell me one thing, right now, quickly. Who are you?"

The rebel sighed. This was time they didn't have, but the heiress had her hand on the rapier.

"Do you know anything about your mother's siblings?"

"Wh- What does that-"

"Time, Weiss! Do you?!"

"I never met uncle Ulrich. He disappeared a few years before I was born."

"Two years, actually."

"What? How do you-"

"He was in love with a woman. A woman the family would never approve of. Eventually, Ulrich Schnee chose to disappear, to protect his new wife and their first child. After reinventing themselves, they tried to get back at his brother in a spectacular way. They tried diplomacy to bridge the gap between humans and the faunus. Reached out to the Belladonnas and the Schnees of the world. They made incredible progress, too. And paid for it with their lives.", the rebel spat.

"Wh-", Weiss began.

"Since then, a small group of like-minded capable fighters has worked behind the scenes to stop political assasinations and terrorist attacks like that by both sides of this stupid shadow war. In any case, Hikari Akiyama. My friends call me Light."

Weiss was staring at the young woman, muttering to herself, unable to process the tsunami of information just thrown at her.

The former heiress was, if not satisfied with the answers, too stunned to argue. The unlikely duo needed a way out, quickly.

"What is your plan?", Weiss asked.

"I… I was going to use the east side delivery door.", Hikari told Weiss, clearly frustrated.

"I assume this was when you still thought this would all be somewhat clandestine?", Weiss replied, frustrated sarcasm evident in her voice.

"You know, if you weren't a stunningly capable huntress, I'd say you're taking this 'running for your life' thing too well.", Light shot back sardonically.

"I stay calm under pressure or die.", Weiss calmly replied, an edge of hostility in her voice.

Hikari knew what Weiss was saying was a half-truth at best. She wasn't fighting grimm. She was apparently fighting her family. The people she's spent the most time with in the world. The people she might even have trusted at some point. Even Hikari had trouble wrapping her head around the idea of Jacques doing something like this. To Weiss of all people. She still didn't have time to ask Weiss what, exactly, was going on. The time for that would come after escaping the mansion grounds.

"Okay. This ledge will have to do. We're leaving.", Weiss suddenly stated.

Weiss, now holding her rapier, pointed the weapon at the ground by the wall. She seemed to be focusing on a spot Myrtenaster was pointing at. A black glyph appeared on the ground.

_That is, honestly, unfair. Even Nicholas Schnee didn't have a semblance that powerful._

Weiss stepped on the glyph. Hikari followed, bracing for whatever Weiss was planning to do.

Suddenly, Hikari saw the bushes move some distance away. She triggered her semblance, hoping to gain the upper hand. Where she'd seen the bushes move, she now saw six black, shadowy figures heading towards them. She could barely make out the silhouettes of rifles.

"Incoming! Ten seconds!", she hissed.

Without hesitation, Weiss lifted the glyph in the air, just past the ledge.

"Jump!", the Schnee commanded.

Hikari leaped from the glyph to the stone ledge, then followed Weiss as she former heiress practically skated down behind the wall. To their horror, both realized that shots were crackling past them and shattering the ice into thousands of sparkling shards as they slammed into the steep hillside.

"They're shooting at us! They're shooting at _me_!", Weiss screamed.

Hikari took a deep breath. Jacques Schnee truly had gone mad this time.

"Hey, at least Klein is safe. They'll think I got in the mansion through that tunnel and broke you out. There's no cameras down there, right?"

"No… nothing in the tunnels. Nothing in most of the mansion, either. Father doesn't like to record details of his business dealings. I have to ask, how in the world do you know Klein by name?"

"No surprise uncle dearest would want his business kept off the record. Among a few other things.", Light scoffed quietly.

"What was that?", Weiss asked.

"Nothing. We need to move, now."

\- 15 -


	13. Exposed

"I thought we were supposed to break the usual pattern.", Fox hissed, looking around the deck.

Neo Politano was eating a large sandwich – were there any other kinds on board? – out on the rear deck. Yuki and Fox were sitting some distance away on a wooden bench, eating a sushi assortment.

"Wanna leave? We can avoid her just by going back inside. I'm sure you're cold by now.", Fox suggested.

Yuki held onto the scarlet red cape tighter.

"I'm fine. It's not that windy, and the sun is nice."

Fox gave Yuki an incredulous stare.

"Yuki, this is a ship. It's never not windy."

"The cape keeps the wind out okay.", the redhead replied.

"Really? They actually sell decent clothes here?"

"For that price, they better...", Yuki hissed.

"Could always tell that genius to pay for it.", Fox joked.

"Sure. "Hey, you spilled tomato soup on my white jacket. Buy me a replacement. No, I'm gonna be caught dead in that purple discount disaster they call a jacket. No, I can't just wash mine and wait until tomorrow." That'll work.", Yuki replied sardonically.

"Well, you couldn't wait.", Fox joked. "Had to get away from _her_.", Fox commented.

"Yeah, worked really well too. We really dropped off _her _radar today_._", Yuki commented in a tired voice.

"Seriously, though. I'm worried she'll recognize _my_ jacket out here.", Fox pushed.

Yuki looked at the thief, then at Fox's distinctive muted orange jacket, then back at the thief.

"You do have a point. She'll spot that from a mile away.", the Atlesian concluded.

The pair got up to leave, but suddenly Fox stopped.

"What's that noise?", he asked.

Yuki stopped and tried to listen. The ship's engines and the wind were the only two things the Atlesian could pick up.

"What kind of noise?"

"High-pitched. A motor of some kind. Almost like it's coming closer."

Fox had turned to face the port bow of the ship. In the distance, it seemed like there was a small, barren archipelago of some sort.

Yuki's senses suddenly grew razor-sharp as adrenaline filled the Atlesian's body.

"High-pitched motor… Like a small boat that could reach us from those islands?", the redhead asked in a low, contemplative voice.

Fox picked up on both the redhead's tone of voice and thinking right away.

"It… could be. I really, really hope I'm wrong, though.", Fox replied darkly.

Yuki was already walking toward the bow of the ship.

"One way to find out.", the redhead declared.

"Unfortunately.", Fox lamented.

It didn't take Yuki long to see it. A speedboat was approaching the ship from the port side.

"Found it. Our ten o'clock.", the redhead reported.

"How far? The wind is really messing with my hearing.", Fox asked.

Even with the wind, Fox didn't miss Yuki pulling out the pistol.

"What the hell?", the brawler hissed, alarmed.

Yuki sighed, slightly annoyed.

"Keep your cool. I don't want _her_ noticing this, and this does probably look a bit suspicious to an outsider.", the redhead replied in a monotone voice.

"This is suspicious to _me_, and I'm bloody blind!", Fox hissed in Yuki's ear, despite the bow deck being practically empty.

"I just need a scope.", Yuki said, pointedly flipping the safety on despite the chamber being empty and hammer uncocked. "Best case, I can range them. Worst case, I know how many pirates there are. Somewhere in between, I can see what kind of firepower they carry."

"Next time, take half a second to warn me!"

Yuki focused for a moment and placed the small metal boat on the cross-hairs.

"You want the bad news or the worse news?", the gunslinger asked.

Fox's couldn't help squeezing his hands into fists.

"How bad?"

"Five people. Military weapons. I'm guessing automatic. And they're close. Already in range. So less than a minute.", Yuki summarized.

"My weapons are in the cabin.", Fox reminded.

Yuki took a look at Fox, then another look at the approaching boat. The Atlesian handed the pistol to a confused Fox, then took off running.

"Chamber dry, full mag, safety on. I'll get your gear. Call my scroll! Tell me where they try to get on! We'll tell the crew and meet wherever they try to embark!", the redhead shouted, forgetting the thief for a moment.

Further back on the deck, the pink-and-brown-haired young woman smirked, tossed her sandwich wrapper in the wind and stepped inside.

Yuki rushed to the nearest staircase, nearly knocking over a passenger. Rather than actually running down the stairs, the redhead leapt two or three steps at a time, then jumped over four stairs to the landing between decks. The same happened another two times. Jumping from halfway down the fourth set of stairs, the redhead stumbled. Instead of a smooth landing, Yuki smashed down on the light brown carpet and nearly hit the wooden wall.

"Wow! Hey kid, that's-"

A crew member, maintenance staff of some sort, watched Yuki, mildly shocked. The redhead immediately spotted the radio on the man's belt.

"Pirates.", Yuki said loudly and sternly, looking the man in the eye. "Speedboat, five thugs. Military grade weapons."

The man's eyes grew wide. Even crews used to seeing attacks never took them lightly. While the man was processing the words, Yuki's scroll rang. The redhead put the call on speaker.

"Where?"

"Still this side, toward the bow. They're closing in on something. I'm taking the rear staircase down. There's no crew out here.", Fox reported.

"I'm deck two, forward staircase. Found a crew member.", Yuki replied.

The man had picked up his radio.

"Pirates, pirates, pirates. Bow sea door-"

The man paused.

"Port side. We're hunters but we'll need help.", Yuki clarified.

"Port side. Two hunters on board, trying to repel them. I'm going down there with them. Send help, now.", the man finished.

"Change of plans, I'm closer to them, you're closer to the cabin, and we're out of time.", Yuki said to the scroll.

"Got it. I'll get my gear myself. Stay safe for one more minute, I'll bring your pistol.", came the reply from Fox.

The redhead rushed to the next set of stairs. The crew member followed.

"Can they get in through the sea door?", Yuki asked.

"I'm more worried about what they'll do they can't. The door's just above waterline. These waves, we'll take in tons every minute it's open. Or missing.", the crew member replied, slightly out of breath.

"Let's just end this, now.", Yuki replied, the frigid sea water too much to think about.

The man inserted his key into a lock. The plain metal door had a simple white sign with CREW ONLY on it in red letters. The inner waterproof bulkhead had already been slid to the side.

"Storage room, has crew stairs and the sea door. If they're in, they're going for the crew stairs to your right.", the man explained.

"Thank you.", Yuki replied, visualizing the key elements of the space.

"You do have a weapon, right?", the man asked, slightly concerned.

"Only the staff. Had to leave the pistol with my partner.", Yuki replied.

The man looked unsure.

"He'll be here any second.", Yuki said loudly, speaking into the scroll's microphone.

"Just left the cabin with my weapons. So one deck up?", Fox asked.

"Deck number one. What's your cabin number?", the crew member asked.

"Zero-three-two."

"Then one deck up, take the port side corridor toward the bow.", the man explained.

"So left side of the ship, forward of the stairs?"

"Basically.", Yuki replied, knowing it wasn't the time to point out the problems with Fox's interpretation.

A loud creaking sound came through the door. The sloshing of the sea and howling of the wind increased suddenly.

"That was them opening it, right?", Yuki asked quietly.

The crew member look confused and nervous. He was picking up his radio when a call sounded.

"Orlov, bridge. The port bow door was just unlocked from down there. From the inside. What is going on?"

The man suddenly looked terrified.

"Bridge, Orlov. Confirm, unlocked from the inside?"

"That is what the door sensor shows, Orlov. Security is almost there."

The man's eyes widened in realization.

"It was unlocked from the inside.", he whispered loudly to Yuki.

"You're saying…", came Fox's voice from behind Yuki's shoulder.

Fox handed the pistol to Yuki, readying his own weapons. The man, Orlov, now a bundle of nerves, was leaning on the wall.

"A crew member opened it. One of us.", he confirmed.

Yuki sighed in annoyance. Loud clanging noises were coming from inside. Someone was coming in.

"Fox, open the door for me, then get back to cover. Either we have four pirates and one armed insider, or pirates and a hostage."

"Shouldn't we wait for the trained professionals?", Fox asked.

"And give them time trow the paid-off crew member overboard to eliminate witnesses? The boat is a five-seater. There was five of them.", Yuki replied, readying the pistol.

In truth, Yuki had no idea if surprising the pirates would work. In hindsight, it did seem more like that behind the door they'd face an armed co-conspirator along with the pirates. Still, suprising them in an isolated area of the ship still seemed the best way to catch the pirates off guard, so Yuki pressed against the wall, just behind Fox. The brawler had crouched, his hands on the key and the door handle. Yuki tapped him on the shoulder. Fox turned the key quickly, pulled the handle and pushed the door open. Yuki stepped forward, pulling Fox back with one hand. Still partially covered by the door frame, the Atlesian quickly assessed the situation. Four armed pirates, one kitchen hand on his knees begging for mercy.

"You're surrounded by hunters and security! Let him go or I _will_ kill you!", Yuki bellowed.

For a second, the pirates seemed confused, unsure what to do. The next moment, one of them raised a weapon on the redhead.

_What a surprise._

Yuki didn't even use the semblance. The pirate's fumbling on the rocking ship gave the Atlesian cadet more than enough time to decide on a response, aim carefully, and put a round through the man's shoulder. Shooting ranges onboard capital ships had never made sense to Yuki, but the tricky practice paid off. The man dropped his weapon and fell on his knees.

"Last chance! Surrender!"

The command came from a security officer standing halfway down the crew stars. He and two of his colleagues had carbine rifles aimed at the pirates. Yuki could just see Fox pressed against the door frame, one weapon aimed at the criminals.

"They don't have scopes. It's center mass. Surrender or die.", Yuki declared loudly.

The Atlesian couldn't see it, but Fox's face turned to a mix of awe and dread as he advanced to the Atlesian's location.

One of the pirates looked between Yuki and the kitchen hand. Yuki exhaled, focusing on the criminal. His plan was obvious. Seeing light glint off the redhead's scope, he seemed to realize the idea was doomed to fail. He cursed and placed his weapon down on the floor.

"Boss, what the f-", one of the masked pirates asked.

"You think the shit in their safe is worth it? Fight now, you die.", the man growled.

The other two pirates lowered their weapons. The security team was clearly considering coming down to detain them. Yuki decided to take the first step and moved further into the room, flanking the pirates.

"We've got them covered, sir.", Fox said, following Yuki into new cover.

The three security guards came down the stairs. One of picked up the pirates' weapons while the other two handcuffed the surrendered criminals. Yuki and Fox still had weapons trained on them.

"Yuki, boat!", Fox suddenly shouted.

The speedboat appeared right by the open door. The driver was pointing a weapon of some kind inside. The two guards only glanced at the door for a second, but that was enough for the criminals to try and escape.

"Stay down! Down!", Yuki shouted at the pirates, the pistol steadily pointed at them. "Fox, boat's motor!"

Fox rapidly fired five shots. The salvo was enough to make the lone active gunman duck for cover in the boat. Before he'd gotten back up, the boat had started drifting away from the door, its engine dead. For good measure, the brawler lunged forward and pulled down the latch controlling the heavy door. Slowly, it started to swing shut

"Nice one.", Yuki commented.

"Thanks.", Fox replied.

"They have my family!", the kitchen hand sobbed.

"Bullshit! I still have the message where you agreed to take the job! If we're going down, you're going down with us!", the pirate's leader shouted.

The leader of the security team glanced at the handcuffed criminals, unimpressed, before turning to Yuki and Fox.

"We'll sort this out. Thank you. You just saved this ship, and three hundred or so crew and passengers. I'll tell the captain everything. I expect he'll want to meet you over dinner. And we may have a few more questions later this evening. We'll find you if we need you.", the leader of the security team said.

Yuki glance at Fox, worried. Fox shrugged helplessly, having guessed what Yuki was thinking. Keeping a low profile was hard to do while sitting at the captain's table.


End file.
